The Senate results for South Australia were finalised and announced today.
The Liberals, ALP and Greens all lost one seat each, whilst the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) picked up three seats and Family First’s Bob Day was re-elected. It is now clear that whilst results in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have not yet been declared, there will be at least as many crossbench senators in the 45th Parliament as there were in the 44th.
The Nick Xenophon Team was the big winner, polling 21.74% of the primary vote and recasting the electoral landscape in South Australia. Nick Xenophon, who was first elected to the Senate in 2007, will be joined by Stirling Griff and Skye Kakoschke-Moore.
The Liberal Party polled 32.58% of the primary vote and elected 4 senators, with Sean Edwards missing out. Edwards served one term after winning a seat at the 2010 election. He was an outspoken critic of the Abbott government over its attitude to submarine building in South Australia.
The ALP polled 27.32% and elected 3 senators, with Anne McEwen missing out. McEwen was first elected in 2004 and served two full terms. She was well-regarded by progressive elements in the ALP and received tributes today from the Greens. McEwen was displaced by Don Farrell, who was first elected in 2007 but lost his seat in 2013.
The Greens polled 5.87% and returned Sarah Hanson-Young, who was first elected in 2007. Robert Simms missed out, after serving 9 months in the casual vacancy created by Penny Wright’s resignation in 2015.
Family First’s Bob Day, who was first elected in 2013, was returned in the 12th position off a primary vote of 2.87%. One Nation polled 2.98% but missed out. Ironically, Day unsuccessfully challenged the Senate voting reforms in the High Court in May, on the basis that votes would exhaust and micro parties would be unable to win seats. Moreover, Day has cause to be amused by the Liberal Party’s loss of Mayo to NXT, since Day’s defeat in the Liberal Party preselection in Mayo in 2008 led to his joining Family First.
The AEC preference distribution is shown at the end of this page.
Senate Count – Latest Update
This table shows only those States and Territories where Senate results have been declared. The dark-shaded rows at the top show the parties that make up the Coalition. The table will be updated as results become available.
| Senate Results – 2016 Federal Election | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Total |
| — Liberal Party | |||||||||
| — Country Liberals (NT) | |||||||||
| Coalition | |||||||||
| Australian Labor Party | |||||||||
| Australian Greens | |||||||||
| Nick Xenophon Team | |||||||||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | |||||||||
| Family First | |||||||||
| Jacqui Lambie Network | |||||||||
| TOTAL | |||||||||
Media statement from the Australian Electoral Commission.
South Australian Senators have been decided
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has announced that the count for the election of twelve Senators for South Australia was completed today.
The successful candidates for the twelve Senate vacancies for South Australia are (in order of their election):
- BIRMINGHAM, Simon – Liberal
- WONG, Penny – Australian Labor Party
- XENOPHON, Nick – Nick Xenophon Team
- BERNARDI, Cory – Liberal
- FARRELL, Don – Australian Labor Party
- GRIFF, Stirling – Nick Xenophon Team
- RUSTON, Anne – Liberal
- GALLACHER, Alex – Australian Labor Party
- FAWCETT, David – Liberal
- KAKOSCHKE-MOORE, Skye – Nick Xenophon Team
- HANSON-YOUNG, Sarah – The Greens
- DAY, Bob – Family First
The Australian Electoral Officer for South Australia, Paul Hawes said the distribution of preferences was conducted today to elect the twelve South Australian Senators.
“As with all aspects of the count, the automated distribution of preferences undertaken today was open to scrutineers appointed by the candidates,” Mr Hawes said.
All 2016 federal election results are available on the AEC’s tally room at www.aec.gov.au/results.
Declaration of the Poll
Mr Hawes said the formal Declaration of the Poll for the 2016 election of Senators for South Australia will take place at 2.00pm on Wednesday, 3 August 2016 and will be held at:
The Stamford Plaza Hotel, Crystal Room, Level 2, 150 North Terrace, Adelaide.
All candidates and the media are invited to attend. RSVPs are not required.
