Count in Bradfield almost level as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation claims fourth Senate seat

The battle for Bradfield is virtually level as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party nabbed a surprise fourth Senate seat, four weeks after the federal election.

The fight to win the final seat four weeks after the federal election is down to a single vote.

Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian had been on on track to just retain the longtime blue-ribbon seat for the party after the retirement of frontbencher Paul Fletcher against independent Nicolette Boele.

But at the conclusion of the full distribution of preferences for Bradfield, Ms Kapterian led Ms Boele by a margin of eight votes – automatically triggering the Australian Election Commission to undertake an automatic recount.

Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian is just one vote ahead of independent Nicolette Boele. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

On Friday afternoon, the AEC tally room showed Ms Kapterian had 56,133 on a two-candidate preferred basis – just one more than Ms Boele on 56,132.

The recount, expected to take up to two weeks, began on Monday.

The recount involves a comprehensive re-tally of first preferences, re-examination of informal ballots, and redistribution of preferences.

The AEC has until 9 July to return the writs. The new parliament will sit for the first time on July 22.

Hanson’s suprise Senate win

Meanwhile, Pauline Hanson has nabbed another Senate seat in NSW, taking One Nation’s total to four senators – the highest since 2016 when the party won four seats in the Senate.

Former hostage negotiator for the British Army, Warwick Stacey won the sixth Senate seat in NSW, as confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission on Friday, after the Coalition failed to win enough votes to secure a third seat.

The remaining five seats were won by Labor’s Tony Sheldon and Tim Ayres, Liberal senators Andrew Bragg and Jess Collins and Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.

Senator-elect Stacey ran on policies calling for the end of “out-of-control immigration” and the scrapping of net-zero targets.

New South Wales senators have been decided. pic.twitter.com/bpnFabEQl7

— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) May 30, 2025

His win follows the surprise election of One Nation’s Tyron Whitten in Western Australia, and the re-election of Malcolm Roberts in Queensland.

The election result means the party has doubled its Senate representation from two to four, the same number of Senate seats held by the Nationals.

The last time since One Nation had a record four seats in the Senate was following the 2016 double-dissolution election.

Party leader Senator Hanson said May’s poll was the best federal election result since the party’s the 1998 election, following the party’s formation in 1997.

“We actually were, I think, the only party that increased our vote in this last election right across the country, and it’s about the best result that we’ve had since probably 1998, in votes,” she said.

She credited One Nation’s performance to its “good common sense policies” and ability to hold the government to account.

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson said the party’s May election performance had nabbed a “historic” result. NewsWire / Martin Ollman

However she said claims that One Nation are an “extreme” party were “ridiculous,” adding that unlike the Coalition, One Nation were able to push back against Labor on issues like migration and net zero.

“We’re more of a centrist party than an extreme right. If you look at our policies. So it’s about, you know, standing up for the Australian values … looking after the farming sector, industry, manufacturing, (a) cut back on immigration which is destroying home ownership in Australia,” she said.

“The trouble with the Coalition was they never pushed back. They couldn’t state their case. They couldn’t debate the issues with the Labor Party and their lies.”

The final makeup of the 76-seat Senate has also revealed that Labor will hold a total of 28 positions, meaning that if the government can’t achieve bipartisan support on Bills, it only needs the Greens to help pass legislation.

In the last parliament Labor needed the support of both the Greens plus three cross benchers.

The Coalition have won 26 seats, with the remaining six-member cross bench to be composed of David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, Lidia Thorpe, Fatima Payman and Ralph Babet.