Federal election 2019: Jacqui Lambie set for Senate return, issues a warning to Scott Morrison

Jacqui Lambie is set to return to the Senate and has already issued a stern warning to Scott Morrison.

Jacqui Lambie votes in Burnie yesterday. Picture: Chris Kidd

Jacqui Lambie is set to return to the Senate and has already issued a stern warning to Scott Morrison.

MORE : Federal Election 2019 Results

More than a year after she was forced to resign as a senator over dual citizenship, the straight-talking Tasmanian appears to have pulled off a hard-fought federal comeback.

At her election function last night, Ms Lambie warned the Coalition would need to treat her “a hell of a lot better” if she won.

“You know what, Scott Morrison? If I am lucky and I hold that balance of power, I hope to God you and your people treat me a hell of a lot better than what they did in the three and a half years I was up here,” she told ABC TV.

“Otherwise, mate, if I’m part of that balance of power, we’re going to have a lot of difficulty getting things through unless it’s going to cost you a lot of money, which is great for Tasmania because I’ll be able to deliver. You know what? Drop the attitude.”

"But you know what? Drop the attitude!" - @JacquiLambie has a message for @ScottMorrisonMP tonight #ausvotes: pic.twitter.com/6t88J3e48w

— ABC Hobart (@abchobart) May 18, 2019

In the lower house, Tasmania’s swinging northern seats are back in Liberal hands but for the rest of the Apple Isle it is status quo.

Labor were ousted in the state’s two marginal seats, Braddon in the northwest and Bass in the north, by first-time Liberal candidates.

Beef farmer Gavin Pearce won Braddon from Justine Keay, almost a year after she was returned to the seat in a by-election.

In Bass, local mayor Bridget Archer toppled Ross Hart.

“We went into this six or seven months ago and things were looking pretty tight. But we’ve turned it around,” she told reporters at her party event in Launceston.

Mr Pearce paid tribute to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who made an election- morning visit to Tasmania’s north.

“He’s intelligent, has heart, and the guts to make the tough decisions,” he said of his party leader in Burnie.

“I will follow him for the rest of my days.”

It was better news for Labor in Lyons, where Labor’s Brian Mitchell held off independent and former Liberal Jessica Whelan.

Ms Whelan resigned from the Liberal Party during the latter stages of the campaign over anti-Muslim social media posts made in her name. Further south, Labor’s Julie Collins was retained in Franklin, while independent Andrew Wilkie was returned in the Hobart seat of Clark.

- With AAP