'I am so excited': Pauline Hanson says Greens leader Adam Bandt set to lose his Melbourne seat 'best news I've heard'
Senator Pauline Hanson has celebrated after Greens leader Adam Bandt was projected to lose his Melbourne electorate, describing it as "the best news I've heard".
Sky News declared on Wednesday afternoon that Labor's candidate Sarah Witty is set to claim the seat in another major win for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Despite there being "plenty" of absentee votes left to count, Chief Election Analyst Tom Connell said the 63 per cent needed for Mr Bandt is "far too high" to reach.
It will end the Greens leader's 14-year run in parliament.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Hanson joked she celebrated before appearing for the interview by "dancing around the house in my bra and knickers" and a gin and tonic.
"I couldn't help it. I am so excited. That's the best news I've heard," she said.
The firebrand politician elaborated further, saying the party has been "hopeless" the last three years and "what comes out of their mouth is so extreme to the left".
"They have no qualm about destroying hundreds and thousands of hectares of pristine forest in Australia to put up their wind turbines or covering land with these solar panels," Senator Hanson said to Sky News host Chris Kenny on Wednesday.
"They want to give money to all these people, handouts, they're not good economic managers, they've run the country into the ground.
"They want to get more money to foreign aid, UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees). They (Greens) are absolutely hopeless."
Despite Sky News and ABC calling Melbourne for Labor, the Greens refuse to concede defeat with an observer saying there were about 15,000 absentee votes to be counted.
Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi argued seats had been called and then uncalled since Saturday's election, insisting they will wait until "every" ballot is counted.
The result will see the Greens reduced to just one seat in the House of Representatives, which is down from the four it won during the "Greenwave" at the 2022 election.
The party has also lost the Queensland electorates of Griffith and Brisbane.
It is holding onto Ryan, in Brisbane's west, but counting is still ongoing.
Mr Bandt - a former Labor member when he was a teen - was upbeat about keeping his seat earlier this week and stressed he wanted to remain as the Greens leader.
The Greens ran on 10 policies this election.
It included 50 cent public transport fares after its success in Queensland, including dental in Medicare, supercharge solar and storage to get Australia to "100 per cent renewable by 2030", truth, treaty and justice, and to end the occupation of Palestine.
Mr Bandt on Monday dismissed suggestion the Greens' pro-Palestine stance impacted the party, claiming their candidates were "the only ones talking about climate" and pushing for an end "to the bombs being dropped on children".
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