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After a five-week election campaign in which Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten blitzed Tasmania’s swinging northern seats, the Liberals have walked away victorious.
Key points:
- The Liberal Party is set to win the swinging Tasmanian seats of Bass and Braddon after losing them in 2016
- Jacqui Lambie is likely to win a Senate seat, according to the ABC election computer
- Labor has retained the seats of Lyons and Franklin, and independent Andrew Wilkie has held Clark
Tasmania’s northern voters have again demonstrated their willingness to change course, with both Bass and Braddon set to return to Liberal hands after a campaign heavily focused on the two regularly swinging seats.
The ABC’s election computer is predicting the Liberals have managed to claw back two of the three seats lost to Labor at the 2016 federal election by the “three amigos”; Andrew Nikolic in Bass, Brett Whiteley in Braddon and Eric Hutchinson in Lyons.
Bridget Archer has claimed Bass from Labor’s Ross Hart, making her the first female Tasmanian Liberal MP to represent the seat in the House of Representatives.
Gavin Pearce has taken Braddon from Labor incumbent Justine Keay, just a year after she won the seat at a by-election.
The results continue the nationwide trend where a predicted swing towards Labor has not eventuated, with the Liberals holding their ground in a state where the Opposition had talked up its prospects in five different seats
But Labor MP Brian Mitchell appears to have held onto the sprawling seat of Lyons, benefiting from the disendorsement of Liberal candidate Jessica Whelan over anti-Islamic Facebook comments.
Ms Whelan had continued her campaign as an independent.
Read analysis about the federal election:
‘A turnaround election in a turnaround state’
At Ms Archer’s election night event in Launceston, supporters welcomed the newly elected MP to the stage with a rendition of “happy birthday” for the George Town Mayor.
Ms Archer thanked her supporters as she fought back tears.
“We went into this six or seven months ago, and things were looking pretty tight, and we’ve turned it around,” she said.
“This is a turnaround election, in a turnaround state.”
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At her Ulverstone Surf Club event, Ms Keay thanked the people of Braddon for electing her twice to federal parliament as she conceded.
“It was an absolute honour and privilege to represent the people here, tell their stories in federal parliament, fight for them and to be there for those without a voice and to try and move our electorate in a strategic direction,” she said.
Ms Keay said she intended to focus on spending time with her children.
Mr Mitchell said he was humbled to win the seat of Lyons for a second time, but wished it was under different circumstances following Labor’s loss of Bass and Braddon.
Lambie likely for Senate, warns Morrison to ‘drop the attitude’
The ABC is predicting Jacqui Lambie is on track to win back her Senate seat, after being forced to resign over her citizenship in 2017.
She is likely to be joined by Greens senator Nick McKim. Labor senators Carol Brown and Catryna Bilyk and Liberal Richard Colbeck have been re-elected, and Liberal Claire Chandler has been elected for the first time.
Ms Lambie said Scott Morrison should “drop the attitude”.
“You cannot work with the bloody Liberals, it’s the Liberals way or no way,” she said.
“So unless they’re going to change their attitude overnight, which I’ve never seen happen … then you know what? You’ve got a fight on your hands.
“[If] I’ve got balance of power, look out, because I tell you what, I’m not giving [you] a bloody inch.”
Earlier, the AEC said it could take up to three weeks to finalise the make–up of the Senate for Tasmania.
Senator Bilyk said she was disappointed her party could not secure a third Senate spot.
Sitting senator Lisa Singh has lost her seat, after being dropped to fourth on the Labor ticket, below John Short in third spot.
Senator Bilyk it was a disappointing result for Ms Singh.
“It is disappointing, but of course Lisa is her own person, she could have run a harder campaign if she wanted to, she didn’t choose to so that’s how it goes,” she said.
In Tasmania’s south, independent MP Andrew Wilkie is predicted to have held the Hobart-based seat of Clark, and appears to have received a swing towards him in the already “very safe” seat.
Mr Wilkie has held the seat since 2010.
Labor’s Julie Collins has retained her seat of Franklin.
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