Labor to increase Senate numbers after landslide win
Andrew Brown |
Labor is set to have an easier path to implementing its second-term agenda, picking up several Senate seats at the federal election.
Fresh from its increased majority in the lower house, Labor looks likely to pick up three more seats at the coalition’s expense, with gains in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Of the 76 senate seats, Labor stands on 28 seats, the coalition on 26, while the Greens are on 11 and the remainder being won by independents and minor parties.
With roughly one-third of the vote counted, five Senate seats still remain up for grabs.
While Labor will still need to negotiate with the crossbench to pass laws in the upper house, they would only have to win support of the Greens to get over the line of 39 seats needed for a majority.
With Labor set to win three of the six seats up for grabs in NSW, deputy Nationals leader Perin Davey is in danger of losing her spot in parliament.
The increased turnout for Labor will also mean the party will claim a third seat in Victoria, paving the way for Michelle Ananda-Rajah to return to Canberra.
Ms Ananda-Rajah was elected to the lower house in 2022, but ran in the upper house in 2025 after her Victorian seat of Higgins was abolished in a redistribution.
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie is also facing a tight battle for her own re-election, with a challenge against Labor for the final seat in the Apple Isle.
After up-ending the political establishment in 2022, independent ACT senator David Pocock has been returned to the upper house, but this time receiving the most votes in the national capital.
One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is also in a close contest to win the sixth and final slot in the Senate for Queensland.
AAP
