MrTall
October 28th, 2004, 02:21 PM
PM's clean sweep: Senate control
October 28, 2004 - 3:05PM
Prime Minister John Howard will have control of the upper house after the Nationals today were declared the winner of Queensland's last Senate seat.
Nationals candidate Barnaby Joyce was declared the winner of the sixth Senate seat when the Australian Electoral Commission completed the final computer count on the complex Senate preference distribution.
The win by Mr Joyce will give the coalition government 39 of the Senate's 76 members.
In the Queensland Senate race, the Liberals won three seats, Labor two and the Nationals one seat.
The result means from July next year, the Howard government will be able to pass controversial legislation previously blocked by the Senate.
It will be the first time a government has held such dominance since the Fraser government in the 1970s.
Veteran Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell burst into tears when the result was declared and called Mr Howard to deliver the good news.
Senator Boswell said it was an "historic day for Australia".
The government will now be able to pass legislation for the full sale of Telstra and introduce more industrial relations reforms.
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Asked whether the Senate would be a rubber stamp now for the government, Senator Boswell told reporters in Brisbane: "The prime minister has said he is not going to abuse the power and he is going to be very careful what he puts through.
"He said he will be very happy to work with us ... this is the icing on his cake."
Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said Australians would have to watch the Senate closely now minor parties had lost the balance of power.
The final result of Victoria's Senate count will not be known for another week.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is still entering data from about 80,000 below-the-line ballot papers and does not expect to compute the results of preferences until next Wednesday at the earliest.
An AEC spokesman said counting had been slow because of the large field of 65 senate candidates.
It would also be interrupted by the Melbourne Cup holiday on Tuesday.
So far, 3,105,039 votes - or 94.25 per cent of the total enrolled in Victoria - have been counted.
It is expected that about 2.5 per cent of electors - or about 80,000 people - have voted below the line, meaning their preferences cannot be allocated according to group tickets and have to be entered manually.
Steve Fielding from the Family First Party is almost a certainty to become the sixth and final senator from Victoria, thanks to preferences from both major parties plus the Democrats.
In he wins, Mr Fielding will become the party's first senator in Victoria.
In counting to date, the Greens have a total of 256,861 votes, while Family First has 55,692.
But according to rough calculations, his final vote will be almost twice that of the Greens' David Risstrom - and comfortably above the quota of 420,720 - once preferences are factored in.
The election of Mr Fielding, who has steadfastly refused to speak to the media until the result is announced, would mean Victoria had elected three Liberal/National, two Labor and one Family First senator to the new parliament.
Family First have benefited from preference swaps that were intended to ensure the third candidate on Labor's ticket, Jacinta Collins, was re-elected ahead of Mr Risstrom.
The plan backfired disastrously for Labor.
For a few fleeting days after the October 9 election, it appeared Mr Fielding could have held the balance of power in the Senate.
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Great news for Oz.
October 28, 2004 - 3:05PM
Prime Minister John Howard will have control of the upper house after the Nationals today were declared the winner of Queensland's last Senate seat.
Nationals candidate Barnaby Joyce was declared the winner of the sixth Senate seat when the Australian Electoral Commission completed the final computer count on the complex Senate preference distribution.
The win by Mr Joyce will give the coalition government 39 of the Senate's 76 members.
In the Queensland Senate race, the Liberals won three seats, Labor two and the Nationals one seat.
The result means from July next year, the Howard government will be able to pass controversial legislation previously blocked by the Senate.
It will be the first time a government has held such dominance since the Fraser government in the 1970s.
Veteran Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell burst into tears when the result was declared and called Mr Howard to deliver the good news.
Senator Boswell said it was an "historic day for Australia".
The government will now be able to pass legislation for the full sale of Telstra and introduce more industrial relations reforms.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Asked whether the Senate would be a rubber stamp now for the government, Senator Boswell told reporters in Brisbane: "The prime minister has said he is not going to abuse the power and he is going to be very careful what he puts through.
"He said he will be very happy to work with us ... this is the icing on his cake."
Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said Australians would have to watch the Senate closely now minor parties had lost the balance of power.
The final result of Victoria's Senate count will not be known for another week.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is still entering data from about 80,000 below-the-line ballot papers and does not expect to compute the results of preferences until next Wednesday at the earliest.
An AEC spokesman said counting had been slow because of the large field of 65 senate candidates.
It would also be interrupted by the Melbourne Cup holiday on Tuesday.
So far, 3,105,039 votes - or 94.25 per cent of the total enrolled in Victoria - have been counted.
It is expected that about 2.5 per cent of electors - or about 80,000 people - have voted below the line, meaning their preferences cannot be allocated according to group tickets and have to be entered manually.
Steve Fielding from the Family First Party is almost a certainty to become the sixth and final senator from Victoria, thanks to preferences from both major parties plus the Democrats.
In he wins, Mr Fielding will become the party's first senator in Victoria.
In counting to date, the Greens have a total of 256,861 votes, while Family First has 55,692.
But according to rough calculations, his final vote will be almost twice that of the Greens' David Risstrom - and comfortably above the quota of 420,720 - once preferences are factored in.
The election of Mr Fielding, who has steadfastly refused to speak to the media until the result is announced, would mean Victoria had elected three Liberal/National, two Labor and one Family First senator to the new parliament.
Family First have benefited from preference swaps that were intended to ensure the third candidate on Labor's ticket, Jacinta Collins, was re-elected ahead of Mr Risstrom.
The plan backfired disastrously for Labor.
For a few fleeting days after the October 9 election, it appeared Mr Fielding could have held the balance of power in the Senate.
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Great news for Oz.