Jacqui Lambie celebrates re-election as Senate results confirmed for Tasmania and NT
Jacqui Lambie has been elected for another term in federal parliament as the second batch of Senate results from the 3 May election are confirmed.
After weeks of counting, the Australian Electoral Commission distributed preferences and finalised results for the Senate in Tasmania and the Northern Territory on Tuesday morning.
Labor is improve its position in the upper house.
In the NT, as expected, Labor and the Coalition won the two seats on offer: Malarndirri McCarthy, the minister for Indigenous Australians, was elected at No 1; Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Country Liberal party senator, claimed the second spot.
In Tasmania, six Senate seats have been won by two Labor senators (Carol Brown and Richard Dowling), two Liberals (Claire Chandler and Richard Colbeck) and the Greens' Nick McKim, as well as Lambie.
Lee Hanson, the daughter of the One Nation founder Pauline, was unsuccessful in her attempt to win a Senate seat in Tasmania.
'I am very grateful that the Tasmanian people have given me the chance to fight for them for another six years,' Lambie wrote in an email thanking supporters after the result was confirmed. 'Representing Tasmania and bringing the voices and concerns of the people to Canberra, is what gets me out of bed in the morning!
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'My focus is on the Tasmanian people, especially those doing it tough. Interest rates are coming down and that's good, but for many Tasmanian families it will barely touch the sides.'
In a post on social media, the Jacqui Lambie Network – the senator's political party – also thanked voters.
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'Campaigns are tough, but your energy, belief in fairness, and commitment to keeping Canberra honest kept us going every day,' the post said. 'This campaign has been powered by everyday Aussies who want a bit of honesty, fairness, and common sense back in politics.'
Tuesday's results came after the AEC on Monday declared senators for the state of South Australia – the first confirmed results in the upper house.
The Labor senators Marielle Smith and Karen Grogan have returned to parliament, along with the Liberals Alex Antic and Anne Ruston, and the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young; Labor also won the last spot, with 21-year-old Charlotte Walker to join the parliament.
Results from Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory are expected on Wednesday, with Western Australia on Thursday, and New South Wales and Queensland to follow either on Friday or early next week.
The AEC has been conducting complex counts and recounts in the seats of Calwell, Bradfield and Goldstein; Calwell was on Monday finally called for Labor while recounts in the other two seats continue.
In the Senate, Labor is expected to be able to pass legislation with only the help of the Greens or the Coalition in this term, and is not likely to require the help of crossbenchers including Lambie or David Pocock, who were influential in the previous parliament.
The former Greens leader Adam Bandt, who unexpectedly lost his own seat of Melbourne, had urged the government to deal with the Greens in the Senate to enact 'an era of progressive change in the parliament'.
Pending further results, Labor could end up with between 28 and 30 Senate seats, with the Greens on 11, and the Coalition on 27. The Coalition has lost one Senate seat in South Australia, and could lose a further seat in each of NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
Price, re-elected in the NT, is among those likely to receive a Coalition frontbench position when the combined Liberal-National shadow ministry is announced this week. Her decision to switch allegiances, and sit in the Liberal party room rather than with the Nationals, was among factors which helped spark last week's Coalition divorce.
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