The final outcome in the 76-seat Australian Senate took over four weeks to complete despite significant voting changes. Earlier in 2016, legislation changed the Senate voting system from a full-preference single transferable vote with group voting tickets to an optional-preferential single transferable vote.[1] The final Senate result was announced on 4 August: Liberal/National Coalition 30 seats (−3), Labor 26 seats (+1), Greens 9 seats (−1), One Nation 4 seats (+4) and Nick Xenophon Team 3 seats (+2). Former broadcaster and founder of the Justice PartyDerryn Hinch, won a seat, while Jacqui Lambie, Liberal DemocratDavid Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day retained their seats. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition will require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three.[2][3][4]
The two major parties negotiated to allocate a six-year term to the first elected six of twelve senators in each state, while the last six received a three-year term. This was consistent with the Senate practice on all seven previous occasions.[5] In 1983 the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform had unanimously recommended an alternative "recount" method to reflect proportional representation,[6] and the Commonwealth Electoral Act provides for a recount on that basis.[7] This alternative method had been supported by both Labor and the Coalition in two separate, identical, bipartisan senate resolutions, passed in 1998 and 2010.[8][5][9] By not adhering to their previous resolutions, Labor and the Coalition each gained one senate seat from 2019.[10][11][12][13][14][15]
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The final Senate result was announced on 4 August. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government won 30 seats, a net loss of three − the Coalition lost four Senators, one each from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but gained a Senator in Victoria. The Labor opposition won 26 seats, a gain of one − a Senator in Western Australia. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition would require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three.[2][3][4][16]
1. Lee Rhiannon(elected 9) 2. Michael Osborne 3. Jane Oakley 4. Jananie Janarthana 5. Marika Kontellis 6. Gareth Bryant 7. Christina Ho 8. Kathryn Maiden 9. Ray Goodlass 10. Christine Donayre 11. Kate Parker 12. Sarah Fernandes
1. Nella Hall 2. Peter Rahme 3. Deborah Lions 4. Andrew Phillips 5. Tania Piper 6. Beth Smith 7. Dave Vincent 8. Colin Broadbridge 9. Rhonda Avasalu 10. Archie Lea 11. Lena El-Daghl 12. Charles Knox
Warren Grzic Jane Ward Liam Munday Bryan Lambert Peter Wallace James Wright Joanna Rzetelski Danny Lim Maree Ann Cruze Stephen Muller Peter Muller John Cooper Santa Spruce-Peet-Boyd David Ash Nigel Smith Ron Poulsen Peter Gooley Nick Chapman Leonard Brown Richelle Tsay
Stephen Juhasz Karthik Arasu Dennis Hall Dana Spasojevic John Karagiannidis Geoff Lutz Allan Mull Chris Ryan Eric Vadarlis Mark Dickenson Immanuel Shmuel Glenn Floyd Meredith Urie Trevor Nye Peter Hawks Christopher Beslis
1. Larissa Waters(elected 9)[g] 2. Andrew Bartlett 3. Ben Pennings 4. Johanna Kloot 5. Fiona Anderson 6. Charles Worringham 7. Rainee Skinner 8. Janina Leo 9. Meg Anderson 10. Louise Noble 11. Kirsten Kennedy 12. Elena Quirk
Shyamal Reddy Greg McMahon David Bundy Kim Vuga Jim Savage Tony Moore Josephine Potter Paul Stevenson Marshal Anderson Ian Eugarde Julie Boyd Leeanne Hanna-McGuffie Zoemaree Harris Michael Kaff Terry Jorgensen Gary Pead John Gibson Belinda Marriage Greg Beattie
3 LNP Senators sit in the Liberal party room and 2 in the National party room
Sits in National party room
Nash was declared to be ineligible by the Court of Disputed Returns because she was a dual citizen of the United Kingdom.[18] A special recount resulted in Jim Molan being declared to have been elected.
Roberts was declared to be ineligible by the Court of Disputed Returns because he was a dual citizen of the United Kingdom.[18] A special recount determined that Fraser Anning was elected instead.
Waters resigned on 18 July 2017 because she was a dual citizen of Canada. The Court of Disputed Returns declared she was ineligible to be elected.[18] A special recount declared Andrew Bartlett had been elected instead.
Ludlam resigned on 14 July 2017 because he was a dual citizen of New Zealand. The Court of Disputed Returns declared he was ineligible to be elected.[18] A special recount led to Steele-John being declared to have been elected instead.
Culleton was found ineligible by the Court of Disputed Returns.[19] A special recount led to Georgiou being declared to have been elected on 10 March 2017.[20]
Kakoschke-Moore resigned on 22 November 2017 after learning she was a British citizen by descent. The Court of Disputed Returns declared she had been ineligible to be elected on 13 February 2018.[21] A special recount determined that Tim Storer was elected instead.
Day was found ineligible by the Court of Disputed Returns.[22] A special recount led to Gichuhi being declared to have been elected on 19 April 2017.[23]
In 2016, Lisa Singh was demoted to sixth position on the Labor Party's Tasmanian Senate ticket behind Senator Catryna Bilyk and union secretary John Short.[24] A quota in Tasmania was 26,090 votes with Singh receiving 20,741 below-the-line votes: enough to overturn the party’s ticket order. She was the 10th senator elected for Tasmania, ahead of Catryna Bilyk (elected 11th), with John Short missing out.[25]
Parry resigned on 1 November 2017 because he was a dual citizen of the United Kingdom.[26] A special recount determined that Colbeck was elected instead.
Lambie resigned on 14 November 2017 because she was a dual citizen of the United Kingdom. The Court of Disputed Returns declared she had been ineligible to be elected on 9 February 2018. A special recount determined that Martin was elected instead.
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