Palmer backs Babet to hold major parties to account

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has vowed to hold the Labor and Liberal parties to account after his well-funded election campaign delivered a last-gasp parliamentary position when Ralph Babet claimed the final spot in the Senate for Victoria.

During last month’s campaign, Babet falsely claimed Australia’s election result would be fraudulent. But on Monday the 38-year-old real estate agent was confirmed as the United Australia Party’s sole parliamentary representative.

Ralph Babet, right, with former UAP parliamentary leader Craig Kelly.Credit: Facebook

“As a former business owner, Ralph understands at the grassroots level what is required for economic prosperity in this country,” UAP chairman Palmer said in a statement.

“He will take the fight to mainstream parties to deliver a better economic future for all Australian families.”

Babet campaigned against government over-reach during the pandemic, and called for a Bill of Rights that would enshrine in law “core freedoms”, such as freedom of speech.

The Age attempted to contact Babet on Monday, without success. However, Mr Palmer’s statement made clear holding the major parties to account would be his priority.

“As [former prime minister] Paul Keating once said, Australia is in danger of becoming a banana republic. The United Australia Party is committed to holding Labor and the Liberals accountable for their actions and adding positively to the national debate for a better democracy,” it said.

The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed Victoria’s final Senate count on Monday morning.

The top five spots were won by women: Liberal Sarah Henderson, Labor’s Linda White and Jana Stewart, the Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie and the Greens’ Lidia Thorpe.

Babet beat the Liberal Party’s Greg Mirabella for the sixth and final place.

His win is the sole electoral victory for the UAP despite the estimated $100 million spent by mining magnate palmer during the federal election. Palmer on Monday confirmed that his party would run a candidate at every Victorian seat at November’s state election.

Babet, who lives in the electorate of Bruce which centres around the south-eastern suburb of Dandenong, was born in Mauritius, according to company records. He provided documents to the AEC that showed he renounced his Mauritian citizenship on March 14, 2022.

As a candidate, Babet falsely claimed the election result would be fraudulent and called for an overhaul of Australia’s electoral laws to require voters to show ID. In a statement on Monday, Palmer said the UAP would be highlighting instances of electoral fraud, but provided no evidence to back his assertions.

After the 2016 election, the Australian Electoral Commission identified 18,343 instances where a name had been crossed off twice – about 0.12 per cent of the 14.89 million votes cast.

The AEC investigated a sample of those, and found nearly 80 per cent were most likely errors by its own staff, such as crossing off the name above or below the correct one on the electoral roll.

Another 10 per cent were mistakes by voters, who might have been mentally ill, confused because of language issues, or simply forgot they had already voted. That left about 1800 votes (0.012 per cent of votes cast) where there was no obvious explanation, but no compelling evidence of deliberate multiple voting.

The NSW and Western Australia Senate results were also confirmed on Monday morning.

The successful senators in NSW were former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne, Labor’s Deborah O’Neill, Nationals’ Ross Cadell, Labor’s Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Jenny McAllister, the Greens’ David Shoebridge and Liberal Jim Molan.

In WA, Labor’s Sue Lines, shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash, Labor’s Glenn Sterle, Liberal Dean Smith, the Greens’ Dorinda Cox and Labor’s Fatima Payman were elected to the Senate.

Payman’s election will make it easier for Labor to pursue its legislative agenda. Payman’s family fled Afghanistan when it was under Taliban rule and resettled in Australia in 2003.

Labor (26) and the Greens (12) will hold exactly half of the Senate’s 76 seats, meaning whenever they combine they will need just one more vote for a majority.

The Coalition will hold 32 seats in the upper house, One Nation and the Jacqui Lambie Network will each hold two, with Babet for the UAP and independent David Pocock also holding seats.

With AAP

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