Election 2016: Crossbenchers potentially vote themselves out of a job

THESE are the crossbenchers who have potentially voted themselves out of a $200K-a-year job, giving the government the double dissolution trigger it wanted.

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THESE are the crossbenchers who have potentially voted themselves out of a $200,000-a-year job, giving the federal government the double dissolution trigger they wanted.

Jacqui Lambie, Ricky Muir, Glenn Lazarus and John Madigan voted against re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission at the second reading stage, which meant the bill never made it to a final vote.

In the end, only Family First Senator Bob Day was committed to supporting the bill in its current form.

It was likely Nick Xenophon, Dio Wang and David Leyonhjelm would not have supported the bill without sweeping changes.

The vote for a second ­reading failed 36 to 34.

It is likely Senator Xenophon and Senator Lambie will be the only crossbench senators returned, with Senator Lazarus a slim chance.

Senator Xenophon will be the major winner. It is likely he and two of his candidates will be elected giving his party three senate seats and potentially the balance of power.

Experts last night said Senator Lazarus was the only one who had a chance of regaining his spot aside from Senator Lambie. Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Senator Ricky Muir, a former sawmill worker who was unemployed before he was elected in 2013, will ­almost certainly lose his job.

He said he voted against the bill on principle, because the government had failed to ­consider what he thought were reasonable amendments, and told the Senate: “Let’s get this bill as it’s presented to a vote and the government can ­proceed with what it wants, an early election.”

In a double-dissolution election the quota to have a senator elected is halved, and Senators Lambie and Lazarus have a decent chance of ­remaining in parliament.

The fateful eight.

Senator Lambie, who is certain she will be re-elected, said the Australian people didn’t care about the ABCC legislation. “If you go out there, you will find most people when you mention those four letters — ABCC — they look at you with a blank look on their face and say, ‘Hey, what are you talking about?’,’’ she said.

The Tasmanian also questioned whether the government wanted the bill to pass, claiming they made no effort to negotiate. “If I was going after your vote, you would be that sick of me in your face, you’d pretty much want to take me out. I never felt like that with the minister. It was like she was just going through the motions,” she said.

Senator Lazarus said he could not support the bill ­because it targeted only the construction industry. He said it needed to be broadened to a whole of industry watchdog.

Despite the likelihood of being wiped out, Senator Leyonhjelm insisted the theory the current crossbench would be wiped out in a double-dissolution election was ‘‘nonsense”.