Election 2022: Clive Palmer’s senate votes fall short, Pauline Hanson fighting to hold on

The UAP leader has been outpolled by Legalise Cannabis Australia, but Pauline Hanson is eyeing a comeback.

Clive Palmer poses for an election day photo at his house prior to casting his vote. Picture: Scott Powick.

Clive Palmer’s United Australia could win a seat in federal parliament after the billionaire spent up to $100 million of his personal wealth during the campaign.

Mr Palmer’s advertising spending spree resulted in the UAP claiming 4.26 per cent of the national vote, after a modest 0.83 per cent swing toward the populist party.

The UAP’s best chance at electoral success is in Victoria, where candidate Ralph Babet may be elected to the senate on the back of Liberal preferences.

In his home state of Queensland, Mr Palmer is falling well short of the necessary votes to win a senate seat.

Pauline Hanson is likely to retain her seat with the help of preferences. Picture: Sean Bell

With about a third of Queensland senate votes tallied on Sunday afternoon, Mr Palmer has been outpolled by Legalise Cannabis Australia, which was largely invisible during the six-week campaign.

LCA has won 6.72 per cent of first-preference votes, just behind Pauline Hanson’s One Nation on 7.82 per cent. UAP has so far secured 4.69 per cent of votes.

While the early Queensland senate results show a 2.5 per cent drop in support for One Nation, Senator Hanson is likely to retain her seat with the help of preferences.

Australia-wide, One Nation claimed 4.97 per cent of the vote on the back of a 1.89 per cent swing but failed to win any seats in the lower house.

Matt Canavan has been re-elected.

Queensland Coalition senators James McGrath and Matt Canavan have been re-elected as has Labor’s Murray Watt.

The fourth Queensland senate seat is likely to be won by Greens candidate Penny Allman-Payne and the fifth by Labor’s Anthony Chisholm.

Senator Chisolm, a former ALP state secretary, was No. 2 on Labor’s ticket and faced a battle to hold his seat because the party failed to make major gains in Queensland.

After Labor recorded its worst Senate result since 1949 at the last election, it only managed to boost its primary vote by 1.64 per cent on Saturday night.

The result reflects Labor’s poor showing in the House of Representatives, where the party is expected to retain just five of 30 Queensland electorates – after losing the south Brisbane seat of Griffith to the Greens.

With more than 2 million votes still to be counted, Senator Hanson’s future is not certain but she will likely be re-elected in the sixth and final spot on the back of preferences.