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]
Terms of senators
Both the government and opposition agreed to pass through the parliament an agreement that the first elected six of twelve senators in each state would serve a six-year term, while the last six elected in each state would serve a three-year term. This was reported as being 'consistent with convention'.[5][6][7][8][9] However, an alternative method was available that had been supported by both Labor and the Coalition in two separate, identical, bipartisan senate resolutions, passed in 1998 and 2010. By not adhering to their previous resolutions, Labor and the Coalition each gained one senate seat from 2019.
[10][11][12]
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 will require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three.[2][3][4]
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) 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