Lambie on lookout for dodgy bills
June 14, 2019
The Australian
Jacqui Lambie is back and promising to guard against “dodgy” government, while the Liberals have a new young female senator and Green Nick McKim retained his seat, in Tasmania’s final Senate result.
Senator-elect Lambie, the outspoken former senator who lost her seat in the dual citizenship saga 18 months ago, was yesterday the sixth senator elected for the island state.
The major parties achieved two seats each, as expected. First elected after yesterday’s preference distribution was Liberal frontbencher Richard Colbeck, who will be joined by new Liberal senator Claire Chandler, a 29-year-old former risk adviser and conservative.
“I am proud to be continuing the Tasmanian Liberals’ improving record of female representation in our parliaments, both at the state and federal levels,” senator-elect Chandler told The Australian.
“Younger people are our future, and as a younger senator I look forward to advocating for more opportunities for young Tasmanians to live and work in our state, rather than having to move to the mainland.”
Labor left powerbroker Carol Brown is returned, second to be elected, and is joined by a re-elected Catryna Bilyk. Labor senator Lisa Singh, dumped by factions to an unwinnable spot on the ticket, lost her seat.
Senator Singh, whose nobbling by factions prompted calls for reform of the ALP, thanked the 19,984 Tasmanians who voted for her below the line in a futile attempt to rescue her career. “It is humbling to have received the highest below-the-line vote in our state,” she said.
Senator Singh was by far Labor’s biggest vote winner in Tasmania’s Senate race, achieving 18.5 per cent of the party’s first preference votes, almost four times as many as Senator Brown (5921), further underlying the absurdity of the factional play.
Senator-elect Lambie said it was “premature” to discuss how she would vote on Coalition tax cuts and other bills.
“I’m expecting the government to start sending bills to the Senate immediately, so I’ll be focusing my energy on making sure that they don’t try to slip something dodgy through during the transition period.