Victoria has given Clive Palmer’s United Australia party her only seat in the federal parliament, after UAP candidate Ralph Babet won the final seat in the Victorian Senate almost a month after the election.
Key points:
- Australian Electoral Commission confirms final results of Victoria Senate federal election
- Ralph Babet will be the sole representative of the United Australia Party in the federal parliament
- A Liberal senator, two Labor MPs, a national and a green senator were also confirmed
The Australian Electoral Commission has this morning confirmed the final results of the six Senate vacancies in Victoria, following the distribution of preferences.
Babet finished last ahead of Pauline Hanson’s Legalize Cannabis Australia and One Nation candidates.
The result also means that Liberal candidate Greg Mirabella, the husband of former federal minister Sophie Mirabella, is losing a seat in the Senate.
The six senators elected for Victoria have now been confirmed as Sarah Henderson of the Liberal Party, Linda White and Jana Stewart of Labor, Bridget McKenzie of the Nationals, Lidia Thorpe of the Greens and Mr Babet.
In his profile as a candidate for the UAP website, Babet, who works in the real estate sector, describes himself as “passionate about freedom, individual freedom and an advocate of a strong Australia”.
“It will not stay as long as those in power ignore the people’s pleas. The people have demanded an end to segregation, an end to their mandates and an end to the government’s growing power and authoritarianism,” the profile says. .
Clive Palmer spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising during the 2022 election campaign. (ABC News: Cameron Lang)
UAP did not get a seat in the Senate in any other state, nor did it get a seat in the House of Representatives, despite Mr. Palmer spending tens of millions of dollars on campaign advertising.
The party garnered just over 4% of the vote nationwide, with an oscillation of 0.69%.
In a statement, Clive Palmer congratulated Babet on his election to the upper house of the federal parliament.
“As a former business owner, Ralph understands at a grassroots level what is required for that country’s economic prosperity,” Palmer said.
“He will lead the fight in the major parties to provide a better economic future for all Australian families.”
The Queensland businessman also denounced election fraud, but gave no specific example.
“There are worrying elements about the AEC’s actions that we will bring to light by presenting evidence,” Palmer said.
The UAP has said it will run for office in the next Victorian state election in November.
The party’s leading candidate, former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, failed to win Hughes’ NSW seat, garnering just over 7,000 first-class votes.
Kelly had held the Liberal Party seat since 2010, but dropped out of the UAP in 2021.
In Victoria, just over 147,000 people voted in the Senate for the UAP, while Babet drew 4,425 votes below the line.
Posted 1 hour 1 hour ago Monday, June 20, 2022 at 1:40 AM, last updated 21 minutes ago 21 minutes ago Monday, June 20, 2022 at 3:17 AM