Meet the new faces in parliament as Jacqui Lambie fights for her political life in the Senate
These are the new faces of Australia’s next parliament, as Jacqui Lambie fights to keep her position in the Senate with votes being counted.
Federal Election
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Factional deals and not individual performance at the polls will likely determine who gets awarded in Anthony Albanese’s second term ministry insiders predict.
Labor’s hefty class of 2025 included a former diplomat based in Afghanistan, a teacher, a world-champion para-athlete, a basketballer and multiple lawyers to name a few.
High profile candidates including Peter Dutton challenger Ali France who is a former journalist and para-athlete and basketballer Matt Smith in the Northern Queensland seat of Leichhardt.
But a dark horse candidate was Zhi Soon in the Sydney electorate of Banks who overthrew respected Coalition frontbencher David Coleman.
Former state parliament adviser David Moncrieff also unseated Liberal Jenny Ware in Sydney’s Hughes.
Labor MPs were not expecting any “surprises” in portfolios for the returning government but one Victorian and Queensland MP each were expected to be in for a ministry.
The Victorian Right faction’s Bill Shorten was never replaced by one of his own, meaning one of the faction’s MPs was on track for a promotion.
Labor is on track to pick up six lower house seats and another senate spot with two more lower house seats too close to call on Sunday.
Many of the incoming MPs are from Anthony Albanese’s own Labor Left faction and the group would be expecting a ministry as well.
Queensland Labor’s new federal MPs and Senators are overwhelmingly women, with the group playfully dubbed the “magnificent seven”.
They include former mental health charity executive Renee Coffey in Griffith, women and youth advocate Madonna Jarrett in Brisbane, small business owner and councillor Kara Cook in Bonner, and officer cadet Emma Comer in newly won seats.
Disaster management specialist and lawyer Corinne Mulholland has also been elected to the Senate for Labor.
SENATE CHANGES AS LAMBIE FIGHTS FOR POLITICAL LIFE
Labor will have an easier time getting its agenda through the Senate with the Albanese Government on track to pick up as many as three extra upper house seats, meaning it would only need support from the Greens to pass bills the Coalition opposed.
Extra Senate sets in Victoria, South Australia and NSW were all breaking Labor’s way after Saturday’s historic election victory, which would bring the party to a total of 28 out of 76 positions, which when added to the Greens’ 11 gives the two progressive parties a pathway to push legislation through.
Last term Labor had to rely on either a combination of the Greens and independent crossbenchers like ACT Senator David Pocock or Victoria’s Lidia Thorpe for support on legislation if the Liberals and Nationals were not in favour.
The election result was bad news for Nationals NSW Senator Perin Davey, as a collapse in the Liberals’ vote across the state contributed to a drop on the Coalition’s Senate quota means she is set to lose her seat.
Ms Davey, who is the Nationals’ deputy leader, expected loss would mean the party has not secured a NSW senate seat for the first time since 1998.
Meanwhile in Tasmania firebrand independent Senator Jacqui Lambie is in a fight for her political life at risk of losing her seat to Pauline Hanson’s daughter, Lee Hanson, who is ran at the top of One Nation’s ticket in the state.
But Ms Hanson’s gain in Tasmania might be offset in Queensland, where her Senator Malcolm Roberts is facing a tough challenge from former Liberal Gerard Rennick who decided to run for the Senate after he wasn’t preselected in a winnable position on the Coalition’s ticket.
Labor’s extra Senate seat in Victoria has paved the way for Michelle Ananda-Rajah to continue her parliamentary career, which was looking to be cut short after her Melbourne lower house seat of Higgins was abolished in the 2025 redistribution.
Meanwhile in the ACT, Mr Pocock received swing of more than 20 per cent and said he was “very tired but really humbled” by the result.
“I think we have seen across the country community backed independents doing well,” he said.
“More Australians seeing what our politics can be. A constructive politics that is connected to the community.”
Vote counting for the Senate contests takes significantly longer than the lower house, as preferences are not considered until the initial tallying of quotas for each party or independent has been finalised 13 days after the election.
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