The New Senate: The Defeated, The Retired, The New And The Returning

Aug 21, 2016

There will be 14 new faces in the new Senate when it meets for the first time on August 30.

This represents 18.42% of the Senate’s 76 members. Each state has 12 senators, whilst the territories have 2 each, who serve terms concurrent with the House of Representatives. The double dissolution meant that all 76 positions were up for election on July 2.

The fourteen new senators include two (Louise Pratt and Don Farrell) who were Labor senators defeated in 2013.

Ten of the fourteen departed senators were defeated in the election, whilst four retired. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2016 Federal Election, A.C.T., A.L.P., Election Statistics, Greens, Liberal National Party, Liberal Party, N.S.W., N.T., One Nation, Palmer United Party, Qld, S.A., Senate, TAS, The Nationals, Turnbull, VIC, W.A. Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tasmanian Senate Results Finalised; ALP, Liberals, Greens And Lambie Take All 12 Seats

Jul 27, 2016

The Tasmanian Senate election results have been finalised and announced by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The ALP has won 5 seats, returning all of its sitting senators, including Lisa Singh. The Liberals have won 4 seats, but Richard Colbeck has been defeated. The two Greens senators have been re-elected, as has Jacqui Lambie.

Despite being relegated to the sixth position on the ALP ticket, Singh secured a large number of below-the-line votes and was re-elected, displacing John Short, the Tasmanian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, who held the fifth position.

Richard Colbeck also received a significant number of below-the-line votes but insufficient to get him across the line. Colbeck was Minister for Tourism and International Education in the Turnbull government. He supported Turnbull against Abbott in last year’s leadership contest. His relegation to the fifth position on the Liberal ticket was widely seen as orchestrated by Senator Eric Abetz.

Colbeck’s position will be taken by Jonathon Duniam, 33, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2016 Federal Election, A.L.P., AEC, Greens, Liberal Party, Senate, TAS, Turnbull Tagged With: , , , ,

Turnbull Announces New Ministry

Jul 18, 2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced his new ministry, following the 2016 federal election.

The Second Turnbull Government will be sworn in at Government House tomorrow morning at 9.00am.

There are 42 members of the executive. The Cabinet has been increased to 23 members, the largest number since the Whitlam governments (1972-75), when all ministers were in the Cabinet and there was no outer ministry. The Outer Ministry has shrunk to 7 members and there are 12 Assistant Ministers, previously known as Parliamentary Secretaries.

Most major portfolios in the Cabinet are unchanged. Scott Morrisonremains Treasurer, whilst Julie Bishop continues in Foreign Affairs and Peter Dutton stays in Immigration and Border Protection.

Christopher Pyne has been moved from Education into a newly-created portfolio of Defence Industry, in which he will oversee the South Australian submarine building program. Senator Simon Birmingham becomes Minister for Education and Training.

Kelly O’Dwyer’s position as Assistant Treasurer has been re-named Revenue and Financial Services. Her previous responsibility for Small Business has gone to Michael McCormack.

Greg Hunt becomes Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, whilst Josh Frydenberg takes over Environment and Energy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Audio, Liberal National Party, Liberal Party, Ministries, The Nationals, Turnbull, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

3-2-1 Split In Tasmanian Senate Poll

Dec 13, 2007

The AEC has declared the Senate result in Tasmania. The ALP has won 3 places, the Liberals 2 and the Greens 1.

AEC State Manager for Tasmania, Marie Neilson, said that the Senate count had involved the keying of votes into a computerised system, and today an automated process was used to distribute preferences and determine the six elected candidates. “As with all aspects of the count, the final process undertaken today was able to be observed by scrutineers representing candidates.”

The successful candidates for the 6 Tasmanian Senate vacancies, in order of their election are:

  1. Nick Sherry (ALP)
  2. Richard Colbeck (Lib)
  3. Bob Brown (Greens)
  4. Carol Brown (ALP)
  5. David Bushby (Lib)
  6. Catryna Bilyk (ALP)
Filed Under: 2007 Federal Election, Senate Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,