MP whose seat was abolished ends up moving houses
Labor's Michelle Ananda-Rajah won the final Senate spot for Victoria in the wake of the federal election, as the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed the six senators for the state on Wednesday.
She will be one of three Labor senators elected in Victoria, alongside Raff Ciccone and Jess Walsh.
Senior Liberals James Paterson and Jane Hume were also voted back in, as was Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May.
Ms Ananda-Rajah was elected to parliament in 2022 for the seat of Higgins in Melbourne, becoming the first Labor MP to win the former blue ribbon electorate.
But Higgins was abolished by the electoral commission ahead of the May 3 election due to a redistribution, leaving her without a spot in the lower house.
She was placed in the third slot on Labor's Senate ticket for Victoria, and was considered unlikely to win.
However, the national swing to Labor led to the party winning three Victorian Senate seats in an election for the first time since 2007.
It comes as a partial recount in the Melbourne-based seat of Goldstein gets underway on Wednesday.
The electoral commission will recount all first preferences on ballot papers, as well as any informal votes.
Liberal Tim Wilson was ahead of independent MP Zoe Daniel by 260 votes at the end of counting and preference distribution.
Ms Daniel submitted a request for a full recount to the electoral commission on Saturday.
The recount in the Sydney seat of Bradfield is also ongoing, with Liberal Gisele Kapterain leading independent Nicolette Boele by just 14 votes, as ballot papers are scrutinised again.
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