Liberal Kerrynne Liddle confirmed as winner of sixth SA Senate spot, becomes SA’s first Indigenous federal MP

Kerrynne Liddle will become SA’s first Indigenous federal MP in either house after pulling off a shock win for the battered Liberals.

Indigenous woman Kerrynne Liddle has claimed the sixth South Australian senate seat, in a surprise result for the battered Liberal Party even as it was trounced in both state and federal elections.

Ms Liddle now becomes the first Indigenous federal MP for the state, after she was confirmed as the third Liberal to be elected to Senate on Wednesday afternoon.

The upset victory would come as a shock to Labor, which secured enough votes to re-elect incumbent senators Don Farrell and Penny Wong only, despite rising support off the back of Premier Peter Malinauskas’s state election victory.

The Liberals will now hold six of the 12 SA senate seats, versus Labor’s four and two Greens.

Kerrynne Liddle took the sixth SA Senate seat for the Liberals, becoming the state's first Indigenous federal politician. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

While Labor turned the tide to claim the former Liberal stronghold of Boothby, and coming within inches of snatching Sturt, it did not have such roaring success in the Senate as pollsters had predicted before the election.

Some pre-election polls tipped Labor to win three senate seats, and the Liberals just one.

Ms Liddle’s shock victory comes in the backdrop of an internal struggle among state and federal Liberal ranks to increase female representation.

The issue of gender equality came to the fore in the preselection process for the Bragg by-election, as the party chose a man – Jack Batty – over several female candidates to fight for former attorney general Vickie Chapman’s seat.

Ms Liddle is an Indigenous woman from Alice Springs and a former small business owner.

She has also served as a board member for both the Adelaide University and University of South Australia.

Ms Liddle was most recently a staffer of 16 months for former social services minister Anne Ruston.

Ms Liddle said she was honoured to be elected to the Senate.

“I am … looking forward to representing South Australians, recognising the challenges this country and our state will need to navigate now and into the future”, she said.

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Originally published as Liberal Kerrynne Liddle confirmed as winner of sixth SA Senate spot, becomes SA’s first Indigenous federal MP