Who are the new elected Senators 2022?

  • Re-elected 1 – Simon Birmingham (Liberal)
  • Re-elected 2 – Penny Wong (Labor)
  • Re-elected 3 – Andrew McLachlan (Liberal)
  • Re-elected 4 – Don Farrell (Labor)
  • Elected 5 – Barbara Pocock (Greens)
  • Elected 6 – Kerrynne Liddle (Liberal)
  • Defeated – Stirling Griff (Centre Alliance)
  • Defeated – Rex Patrick (Rex Patrick Team)

Party Summary: Ex-Nick Xenophon Team Senators Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff have been defeated (-2), replaced by Greens (+1) and Liberal (+1).

Post includes analysis of the preference flows that determined who won the final seat.

Commentary on Result

The South Australian Senate positions facing election in 2022 were those allocated six-year terms after the 2016 double dissolution election. That was the election where the Nick Xenophon Team recorded a record vote, resulting in the six seats splitting two Liberal, two Labor and two Nick Xenophon Team. After Xenophon left the Senate for an unsuccessful tilt at SA state politics, his former party’s support evaporated. That left his former party’s two seats under threat in 2022.

The four sitting major party Senators have been re-elected. For Labor Penny Wong and Don Farrell are re-elected, as are Liberals Simon Birmingham and Andrew McLachlan. McLachlan had been appointed to the Senate in early 2020 following the resignation of ex-Liberal Senator Corey Bernardi.

Both cross bench Senators have been defeated. Rex Patrick was appointed to the Senate in November 2017 after Xenophon’s resignation. He broke with the party and re-contested unsuccessfuly for his own party, the Rex Patrick Team. Nick Xenophon re-emerged to run on an Independent ticket with Stirling Griff as number two. Both were defeated.

The Greens have gained one of the seats with the election Barbara Pocock. The final seat went to the Liberal Party’s third candidate Kerrynne Liddle.

First Preference Results Table

Enrolment – 1,272,047
Total Votes / Turnout – 1,162,472, 91.4% of enrolment
Informal Votes – 33,948 (2.9%)
Provisional Quota – 161,218
Below-the-line Vote – 7.2%
Last Update – Saturday, 11 June 2022, 20:43

Party Name (Group) Votes Pct Change Quotas % BTL
Liberal (C) 382,874 33.93 -3.88 2.3749 2.8
Ticket votes 372,322 32.99
BIRMINGHAM, Simon (Re-elected 1) 8,937 0.79
McLACHLAN, Andrew (Re-elected 3) 713 0.06
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (Elected 6) 367 0.03
STOCK, Tania 535 0.05
Labor (D) 364,104 32.26 +1.90 2.2585 5.8
Ticket votes 343,039 30.40
WONG, Penny (Re-elected 2) 18,615 1.65
FARRELL, Don (Re-elected 4) 1,069 0.09
GILL, Trimann 568 0.05
SUTTON, Joanne 373 0.03
OWENS, Belinda 440 0.04
The Greens (P) 134,908 11.95 +1.04 0.8368 9.4
Ticket votes 122,255 10.83
POCOCK, Barbara (Elected 5) 9,890 0.88
SUMNER, Major Moogy 1,827 0.16
SELWOOD, Melanie 936 0.08
One Nation (S) 45,249 4.01 -0.86 0.2807 9.4
Ticket votes 40,992 3.63
GAME, Jennifer 3,922 0.35
WATCHMAN, Alan 335 0.03
United Australia (U) 34,167 3.03 .. 0.2119 7.5
Ticket votes 31,593 2.80
ARBON, Michael 2,448 0.22
SCHILD, Caelum 126 0.01
(Xenophon/Griff) (O) 33,713 2.99 +0.39 0.2091 35.6
Ticket votes 21,705 1.92
XENOPHON, Nick 11,897 1.05
GRIFF, Stirling (Defeated) 111 0.01
Legalise Cannabis (T) 26,235 2.32 +0.20 0.1627 6.3
Ticket votes 24,583 2.18
GREEN, Tyler Bradley 1,448 0.13
ADAMS, Angela 204 0.02
Liberal Democrats (A) 24,866 2.20 +1.53 0.1542 8.7
Ticket votes 22,703 2.01
MARKOS, Ian 1,862 0.16
SMITH, Josh 301 0.03
Rex Patrick Team (R) 23,425 2.08 +2.08 0.1453 23.1
Ticket votes 18,012 1.60
PATRICK, Rex (Defeated) 5,385 0.48
McMAHON, Leonie 28 0.00
Animal Justice (B) 19,843 1.76 -0.11 0.1231 7.5
Ticket votes 18,359 1.63
PFEIFFER, Louise 1,355 0.12
PASTRO, Julie 129 0.01
Great Australian Party (F) 6,910 0.61 -0.55 0.0429 12.1
Ticket votes 6,076 0.54
EASON, Jo-Anne 767 0.07
BENNETT, Trevor 67 0.01
Federation Party (J) 4,902 0.43 +0.43 0.0304 21.2
Ticket votes 3,864 0.34
BYRNE, Cathy 817 0.07
DUFFIELD, Nick 221 0.02
(Bob Day) (E) 4,799 0.43 +0.43 0.0298 35.4
Ticket votes 3,102 0.27
DAY, Bob 1,633 0.14
AMADIO, Pat 64 0.01
National Party (G) 3,969 0.35 +0.35 0.0246 12.3
Ticket votes 3,481 0.31
BLANDFORD, Lisa 211 0.02
BUIJS, Damien 277 0.02
FUSION (N) 3,770 0.33 +0.33 0.0234 14.2
Ticket votes 3,233 0.29
WOLFENDALE, Drew 497 0.04
KENNEDY, David 40 0.00
Sustainable Australia (H) 3,448 0.31 -0.18 0.0214 10.8
Ticket votes 3,074 0.27
MICHIE, Elise 343 0.03
DUXBURY, Jack 31 0.00
Australian Democrats (K) 3,194 0.28 -0.31 0.0198 11.6
Ticket votes 2,824 0.25
YAZBEK, Roger 252 0.02
KANCK, Sandra 118 0.01
Local Party (I) 2,389 0.21 +0.21 0.0148 8.3
Ticket votes 2,190 0.19
FINNEY, Julie-Ann 171 0.02
PARNELL, Rodney Kenneth 28 0.00
Informed Medical Options (Q) 2,320 0.21 +0.21 0.0144 18.2
Ticket votes 1,898 0.17
CRUISE, Raina 374 0.03
HARLEY, Heather 48 0.00
Citizens Party (V) 1,205 0.11 -0.04 0.0075 10.9
Ticket votes 1,074 0.10
FRANCIS, Russell 112 0.01
CURREY, Rodney 19 0.00
Democratic Alliance (L) 1,011 0.09 +0.09 0.0063 15.6
Ticket votes 853 0.08
YARMUHAMMAD, Adila 146 0.01
YARMUHAMMAD, Amina 12 0.00
Ungrouped (UNG) 652 0.06 +0.06 0.0040 100.0
HOPPER, Michael 652 0.06
(Kaur/Kumar) (M) 571 0.05 +0.05 0.0035 15.2
Ticket votes 484 0.04
KAUR, Harmeet 71 0.01
KUMAR, Rajesh 16 0.00
…. (Others) 0 -3.37

The first four vacancies were quickly filled, re-electing the two sitting Liberal and two sitting Labor Senators. Then began the exclusion of the lowest polling candidates and the transfer of their preferences. By count 185, 39 candidates had been excluded and only eight candidates remained. The totals for each candidate, percentage votes and quotas are shown in the table below. The ‘Transfers’ column shows the change in vote total between the remaining candidates and the candidate’s original vote total. The Labor and Liberal totals also exclude votes representing two filled quotas for votes.

The Greens gained more preferences than other parties from excluded candidates, pushing the party’s lead candidate Barbara Pocock to 0.9682 quotas. All other parties remained in the same partial quota order as on the tally of first preference votes.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 185
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
POCOCK, Barbara (GRN) +21,187 156,095 13.83 0.9682
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +8,856 69,294 6.14 0.4298
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +10,106 55,355 4.91 0.3434
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +10,899 52,567 4.66 0.3261
XENOPHON, Nick (IND) +8,582 42,295 3.75 0.2623
ARBON, Michael (UAP) +5,951 40,118 3.55 0.2488
GREEN, Tyler (LCA) +7,611 33,846 3.00 0.2099
MARKOS, Ian (LDP) +4,221 29,087 2.58 0.1804
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +4,995 4,995 0.44 0.0310

Counts 186-190 excluded Ian Markos of the Liberal Democrats from the first column on the ballot paper. The Liberals were in column C and 52% of LDP preferences flowed to the Liberal Party’s Kerrynne Liddle widening her lead over One Nation.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 190
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
POCOCK, Barbara (GRN) +1,828 157,923 13.99 0.9796
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +15,052 84,346 7.47 0.5232
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +3,015 58,370 5.17 0.3621
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +2,908 55,475 4.92 0.3441
XENOPHON, Nick (IND) +527 42,822 3.79 0.2656
ARBON, Michael (UAP) +2,108 42,226 3.74 0.2619
GREEN, Tyler (LCA) +972 34,818 3.09 0.2160
MARKOS, Ian (LDP) -29,087 0 0.00 0.0000
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +2,677 7,672 0.68 0.0476

Counts 191-95 excluded Tyler Green of Legalise Cannabis. 31.5% of preferences flowed to the Greens electing Barbara Pocock to the fifth vacancy. It also narrowed the gap between Labor and One Nation.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 195
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
POCOCK, Barbara (GRN) +10,956 168,879 14.96 1.0475
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +2,973 87,319 7.74 0.5416
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +5,068 63,438 5.62 0.3935
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +5,913 61,388 5.44 0.3808
ARBON, Michael (UAP) +4,602 46,828 4.15 0.2905
XENOPHON, Nick (IND) +1,270 44,092 3.91 0.2735
GREEN, Tyler (LCA) -34,818 0 0.00 0.0000
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +4,036 11,708 1.04 0.0726

Count 196 distributed the small Green surplus. 67.7% of Green preferences flowed to Labor Trimann Gill, moving ahead of One Nation’s Jennifer Game.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 196
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
POCOCK, Barbara (GRN) -7,661 161,218 14.29 1.0000
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +660 87,979 7.80 0.5457
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +5,189 66,577 5.90 0.4130
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +331 63,769 5.65 0.3955
ARBON, Michael (UAP) +359 47,187 4.18 0.2927
XENOPHON, Nick (IND) +374 44,466 3.94 0.2758
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +748 12,456 1.10 0.0773

Counts 197-202 excluded Nick Xenophon. His preferences flowed 38.2% to Labor, 29.8% to Liberal, 11.1% to One Nation, 6.5% to United Australia while 14.5% of Xenophon’s preferences exhausted. This put both major parties well ahead of One Nation.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 202
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +13,264 101,243 8.97 0.6280
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +16,968 83,545 7.40 0.5182
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +4,926 68,695 6.09 0.4261
ARBON, Michael (UAP) +2,872 50,059 4.44 0.3105
XENOPHON, Nick (IND) -44,466 0 0.00 0.0000
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +6,436 18,892 1.67 0.1172

Counts 203-208 excluded the UAP’s Michael Arbon. Of UAP votes, 58.1% flowed to One Nation’s Jennifer Game, putting her ahead of Labor’s Trimann Gill. 12.9% of UAP preferences flowed to Liberal, 12.4% to Labor and 16.7% exhausted. Liberal Kerrynne Liddle led One Nation’s Jennifer Game by 9,950 votes with Labor’s Trimann Gill 8,015 further behind and set to be the next excluded candidate.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 208
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +6,462 107,705 9.54 0.6681
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +29,060 97,755 8.66 0.6064
GILL, Trimann (ALP) +6,195 89,740 7.95 0.5566
ARBON, Michael (UAP) -50,059 0 0.00 0.0000
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +8,342 27,234 2.41 0.1689

Counts 209-214 excluded Labor’s Trimann Gill. 53.0% of Labor preferences exhausted, 36.0% to the Liberal Party and 11.0% to One Nation. This left Liberal Kerrynne Liberal on 0.8684 quotas to 0.6679 quotas for One Nation’s Jennifer Game, a lead of 32,336. With no more candidates to exclude, Liddle was declared elected to the final vacancy. A total of 74,754 votes had exhausted their preferences before choosing between Liberal and One Nation, in total 6.62% of all votes or just under half a quota on 0.4637.

South Australian Senate Count – After Count 214
Candidate (Party) Transfers Votes Pct Quotas
LIDDLE, Kerrynne (LIB) +32,303 140,008 12.41 0.8684
GAME, Jennifer (ONP) +9,917 107,672 9.54 0.6679
GILL, Trimann (ALP) -89,740 0 0.00 0.0000
Exhausted/Loss by fraction +47,520 74,754 6.62 0.4637

The South Australian preference distribution shows the same trend as seen in all mainland states at the last two election. With voters now controlling preferences in the new electoral system, they clearly tend to send preferences towards the best known parties – the Labor Party, Liberal Party, the Greens and One Nation. The same parties that attract most votes also tend to attract the most preferences.