On 5 April 2014, an Australian Senate special election in Western Australia was held. The

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

was held six months after the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Aus ...

. The result of that 2013 election for the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

was voided on 20 February 2014 by the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

, sitting as the

Court of Disputed Returns The Court of Disputed Returns is a court, tribunal, or some other body that determines disputes about elections in some common law countries. The court may be known by another name such as the Court of Disputed Elections. In countries that derive ...

, because 1,375

ballot paper A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

s were lost during an official recount in November 2013. The High Court ruled that because the number of lost ballots exceeded the margin for the two remaining Senate seats, the only acceptable remedy was to void the results and hold a special election. Following the election on 5 April, preferences were distributed on 29 April 2014 according to the

group voting ticket A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member electoral divisions with si ...

voting system used at that time. The outcome was 3 senators from the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

, 1 from the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

, 1 from the Australia Greens and 1 from the

Palmer United Party The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is a currently deregistered Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party ...

. Compared to the November 2013 result, the Australian Sports Party's

Wayne Dropulich Wayne Dropulich (born ) is a former member of the Australian Sports Party who was elected to the Australian Senate in the final count of the 2013 federal election prior to the Western Australian Senate count being declared void by the Court o ...

was replaced by

Dio Wang Zhenya Wang (; born 20 January 1981), also known as Dio Wang, is a former Australian senator and civil engineer. He was the CEO of Australasian Resources from July 2010 until 20 June 2014, when he resigned in preparation for his role as Senato ...

of the Palmer United Party. The election is unprecedented in Australian federal politics. An election was held in South Australia in 1907 for the election of one senator under a previous electoral system. Half-Senate elections without a corresponding

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

election have occurred several times due to effluxion of time, the last one in 1970. The date was set by Sir

Peter Cosgrove General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is a retired senior Australian Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Cosgrove fo ...

, the

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

. However, the onus for setting times and processes fell on the

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

, Malcolm McCusker, on the advice of

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

, in McCusker's obligations under the operation of the Election of Senators Act 1903 (WA).

Result

Summary

{, style="width:100%;" , - , {, class="wikitable" , +Senate ( STV GV) — Turnout 88.50% ( CV) —

Informal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements (forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal attire ...

2.50% , - ! colspan=2 style="width:190px" , Party ! style="width:70px; text-align:center;", Votes ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;", % ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;", ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;", Seats won ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;", Total seats ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;", Change , - , , ,

, align= 435,220 , align= 34.06 , align= –8.93 , align= 3 , align= 6 , align= , - , , ,

, align= 275,094 , align= 21.53 , align= –8.17 , align= 1 , align= 3 , align= 1 , - , , ,

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

, align= 199,358 , align= 15.60 , align= +1.64 , align= 1 , align= 2 , align= , - , , ,

, align= 157,740 , align= 12.34 , align= +12.34 , align= 1 , align= 1 , align= 1 , - , , , Nationals WA , align= 38,818 , align= 3.04 , align= –0.39 , align= , align= , align= , - , , , Other , align= 171,574 , align= 13.43 , align= , align= , align= , align= , - , colspan=2 , Total , align="right" , 1,277,804 , align= , align= , align= 6 , align= 12 , - , colspan=8 , , - , colspan=3 , Invalid/blank votes , align = right , 32,757 , align = right , 2.50 , align = right , –0.68 , , , - , colspan=3 , Registered voters/turnout , align=right , 1,480,820 , align = right , 88.50 , , , , - , colspan=8 , Source
Commonwealth Election 2013

Results in detail

{, style="width:100%;" , , align=right , {, class="wikitable" , - !Elected ! # ! Senator ! colspan="2" , Party , - , 2014 , 1 ,

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

, , , Liberal , - , 2014 , 2 ,

Joe Bullock Joseph Warrington Bullock (born 13 April 1955) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Western Australia from 2013 to 2016, representing the Australian Labor Party. Education and career Bul ...

, , , Labor , - , 2014 , 3 ,

Scott Ludlam Scott Ludlam (born 10 January 1970) is a New Zealand-born Australian former politician. A member of the Australian Greens, he was a senator in the Australian Senate from July 2008 to July 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Greens. Ludlam ...

, , , Greens , - , 2014 , 4 ,

Michaelia Cash Michaelia Clare Cash (born 19 July 1970) is an Australian politician who served as the 38th Attorney-General of Australia from 2021 to 2022 in the Morrison Government. She has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2008 and is a member of t ...

, , , Liberal , - , 2014 , 5 ,

, , , Palmer , - , 2014 , 6 ,

Linda Reynolds Linda Karen Reynolds (born 16 May 1965) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Liberal Party and has served as a Senator for Western Australia since 2014. She held senior ministerial office as a cabinet minister in the Morrison g ...

, , , Liberal , - , colspan=5 align=center , 2010 , - , 2010 , 1 ,

Mathias Cormann Mathias Hubert Paul Cormann (; ; born 20 September 1970) is a Belgian-born Australian politician and diplomat who currently serves as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), having assumed the off ...

, , , Liberal , - , 2010 , 2 , Chris Evans , , , Labor , - , 2010 , 3 , Chris Back , , , Liberal , - , 2010 , 4 ,

Glenn Sterle Glenn Sterle (born 3 January 1960) is an Australian politician. A former trade union organiser, he has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since 2005, representing the state of Western Australia. Career Trucking bus ...

, , , Labor , - , 2010 , 5 , Judith Adams , , , Liberal , - , 2010 , 6 ,

Rachel Siewert Rachel Mary Siewert (born 4 November 1961) is an Australian politician. She was a senator for Western Australia from 2005 to 2021, representing the Australian Greens, and served as the party's co-deputy leader from 2017 to 2018. She previously w ...

, , , Greens The sixth and last seat was a close contest between third Liberal candidate

and second Labor candidate

Louise Pratt Louise Clare Pratt (born 18 April 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016, and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Party, and served as a member of the Western Australian ...

. Reynolds was ahead in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's detailed count projection, with

Antony Green Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian psephologist and commentator. He is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst. Early years and background Born in Warrington, Lancashire, in northern England, Gree ...

predicting on 10 April "It is clear the Liberals will win the last seat". The result was confirmed by the Electoral Commission on 29 April. The score at the final count was 188,169 to Reynolds versus 176,042 for Pratt, a margin of 12,127. The projected margin on Green's calculator, which treated all votes as above-the-line, was a narrower 8,109.

Revised national totals

{, class="wikitable" , +Revised national Senate totals following WA special election ( STV GV)
Turnout 93.45% ( CV) –

2.93%

, - ! colspan="3" style="width:190px" , Party ! style="width:70px; text-align:center;" , Votes ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , % ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , Swing ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , Seats won ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , Continuing senators ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , Total seats ! style="width:40px; text-align:center;" , Change , - , rowspan="5" , , , , / joint ticket , align=right , 3,938,204 , align=right , 29.43 , align=right , –0.03 , align=right , 8 , align=right , 8 , align=right , 16 , align=right , 1 , - , , , , align=right , 928,291 , align=right , 6.94 , align=right , –1.65 , align=right , 8 , align=right , 8 , align=right , 16 , align=right , , - , , , , align=right , 41,920 , align=right , 0.31 , align=right , –0.19 , align=right , 0 , align=right , 0 , align=right , 0 , align=right , , - , , , Country Liberal (NT) , align=right , 42,781 , align=right , 0.32 , align=right , –0.01 , align=right , 1 , align=right , 1 , align=right , 1 , align=right , , - ! style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Coalition total ! style="text-align:right;" , 4,951,196 ! style="text-align:right;" , 37.00 ! style="text-align:right;" , –1.29 ! style="text-align:right;" , 17 ! style="text-align:right;" , 16 ! style="text-align:right;" , 33 ! style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , , , colspan="2" ,

, align="right" , 3,965,284 , align="right" , 29.63 , align="right" , –5.50 , align="right" , 12 , align="right" , 13 , align="right" , 25 , align="right" , 6 , - , , , colspan="2" ,

, align="right" , 1,234,592 , align="right" , 9.23 , align="right" , –3.88 , align="right" , 4 , align="right" , 6 , align="right" , 10 , align="right" , 1 , - , , , colspan="2" ,

, align="right" , 751,121 , align="right" , 5.61 , align="right" , +5.61 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , align="right" , – , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , - , , , colspan="2" , Liberal Democratic Party , align="right" , 502,180 , align="right" , 3.75 , align="right" , +1.94 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , – , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , 1 , - , style="background:;" , , colspan="2" , Xenophon Group , align="right" , 258,376 , align="right" , 1.93 , align="right" , +1.93 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , – , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , , - , , , colspan="2" ,

Family First Party The Family First Party was a Conservatism in Australia, conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Austral ...

, align="right" , 149,994 , align="right" , 1.12 , align="right" , –0.98 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , – , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , 1 , - , , , colspan="2" , Democratic Labour Party , align="right" , 115,276 , align="right" , 0.86 , align="right" , –0.20 , align="right" , 0 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , , - , , , colspan="2" , Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party , align="right" , 66,807 , align="right" , 0.50 , align="right" , +0.50 , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , – , align="right" , 1 , align="right" , 1 , - , style="background:gray;" , , colspan="2" , Other , align="right" , 1,385,719 , align="right" , 10.36 , align="right" , +0.49 , align="right" , , align="right" , , align="right" , , align="right" , , - , colspan="3", Total , align="right" , 13,380,545 , , , align=right , 40 , align=right , 36 , align="right" , 76 , , - , colspan=10 , , - , colspan=3 , Invalid/blank votes , align = right , 403,380 , align = right , 2.93 , align = right , –0.82 , , , , , - , colspan=3 , Registered voters/turnout , align=right , 14,750,392 , align = right , 93.45 , , , , , , - , colspan=10 , Source
Commonwealth Election 2013

Candidates

There were a number of candidate changes from the original election. Notable changes included: * Shane Hill replaced

Peter Foster Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...

as third candidate on the Labor ticket *

David Wirrpanda David Selwyn Burralung Merringwuy Galarrwuy Wyal Wirrpanda ( ; born 3 August 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Born in Melbourne, Wirrpand ...

was no longer on the Nationals ticket *

Des Headland Desmond Edmond Headland, Jr (born 21 January 1981) is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League, and a conservative political candidate. He plays as a half-forward flanker or midfield ...

assumed second place on the Palmer United ticket *

Anthony Fels Anthony James Fels (born 19 November 1964) is a former Australian member of parliament and perennial candidate for public office. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing the Agricultural Region from 2005 to 2 ...

switched from lead Katter's Australian Party candidate to lead Mutual Party candidate *

Fiona Patten Fiona Heather Patten (born May 1964) is a former Australian politician. She is the leader of the Reason Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until she ...

, who was the lead Sex Party candidate in Victoria in 2013, became their lead candidate at the special election The Socialist Equality Party and Australian Independents contested the 2013 election in Western Australia, but did not contest the special election. The Socialist Alliance, Pirate Party, Voluntary Euthanasia Party, Building Australia Party, Mutual Party, Republican Party and Democratic Labor Party did not contest the 2013 election in WA, but decided to contest the special election. Sitting members are shown in bold text. Tickets that elected at least one member in 2014 are highlighted in the relevant colour and successful candidates are indicated with an asterisk (*). Candidates marked with ‡ were declared elected after the final count in 2013. {, class="wikitable" , - style="background:#ccc;" !

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

candidates !

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidates ! Greens candidates !

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

candidates ! Nationals candidates ! Katter candidates , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #

‡* #

# Shane Hill # Klara Andric , valign=top , #

‡* #

Slade Brockman William Edward Slade Brockman (born 27 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has served as a Senator for Western Australia since 2017, representing the Liberal Party. He was elected President of the Australian Senate in October 2021 follow ...

, valign=top , #

‡* #Christine Cunningham #Ian James # Jordon Steele-John #Sarah Nielsen-Harvey #Judith Cullity , valign=top , #

* #

#Chamonix Terblanche , valign=top , #Shane Van Styn # Colin de Grussa , valign=top , #Phillip Bouwman #Susan Hoddinott , - style="background:#ccc;" ! Shooters & Fishers candidates !

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

candidates ! Family First candidates !

Australian Sex Party The Australian Sex Party was an Australian political party founded in 2009 in response to concerns over the purported increasing influence of religion in Australian politics. The party was born out of an adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Asso ...

candidates !

Wikileaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

candidates ! Liberal Democrats candidates , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #Murray Bow #John Parkes , valign=top , #Ray Moran #Justin Moseley , valign=top , #Linda Rose #Henry Heng , valign=top , #

#Mark Coleman , valign=top , #Tibor Meszaros #Lucy Nicol , valign=top , #Jim Fryar #Neil Hamilton , - style="background:#ccc;" ! Democrats candidates ! Smokers' Rights candidates !

HEMP Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

candidates ! Socialist Alliance candidates !

Voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

candidates ! Fishing & Lifestyle candidates , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #Chris Fernandez #William Thiel , valign=top , #Max Katz-Barber #Daniel Di Rado , valign=top , #James Moylan #Tayla Moylan , valign=top , #Alex Bainbridge #Chris Jenkins , valign=top , #Brian Parkes #Sean Butler , valign=top , #Daniel McCarthy #Suzzanne Wyatt , - style="background:#ccc;" !

Secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

candidates !

Pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

candidates ! Freedom & Prosperity candidates !

Sustainable Population Sustainable population refers to a proposed sustainable human population of Earth or a particular region of Earth, such as a nation or continent. Estimates vary widely, with estimates based on different figures ranging from 0.65 billion people t ...

candidates !

Outdoor Recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

candidates ! Animal Justice candidates , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #Simon Cuthbert #Andrew Thompson , valign=top , #Fletcher Boyd #Michelle Allen , valign=top , #Bill Koutalianos #Leon Ashby , valign=top , #Peter Strachan #William Bourke , valign=top , #David Fishlock #Joaquim De Lima , valign=top , #Katrina Love #Alicia Sutton , - style="background:#ccc;" ! Motoring Enthusiast candidates !

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

candidates !

Rise Up Australia Rise Up Australia Party was a far-right political party in Australia. The party's policy platform was focused on nationalist and Christian conservative issues, such as opposing Islamic immigration and religious freedom for Australian Musli ...

candidates !

Voluntary Euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

candidates ! Building Australia candidates ! Mutual candidates , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #Richie Howlett #Rob Zandvliet , valign=top , #

‡ #Al Lackovic , valign=top , #Jane Foreman #Joanne Bennett , valign=top , #

Philip Nitschke Philip Haig Nitschke (; born 8 August 1947) is an Australian humanist, author, former physician, and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group EXIT (Australia), Exit International. He campaigned successfully to have a legal euthanasia la ...

#Jim Duffield , valign=top , #Ken Bezant #Daniel Smee , valign=top , #

#Felly Chandra , - style="background:#ccc;" !

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidates ! DLP candidates ! Group C candidates ! Ungrouped candidates ! ! , - style="background:#ccc;" , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , valign=top , #Marcus Anderson #Rohan Hollick , valign=top , #Adrian Good #Cathy Kiernan , valign=top , # Russell Woolf # Verity James , valign=top , Teresa van Lieshout (

Ind Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

)
Kim Mubarak (

) , valign=top , , valign=top ,

Electoral events timeline

* 7 September 2013 (Election Day) – The Liberal-National Coalition defeats the Australian Labor Party. * 17 October – A recount of all "above-the-line" Senate votes made in Western Australia is initiated after an appeal by the WA Greens and the Australian Sports Party is upheld. * 31 October 2013 – The AEC announces that it is unable to find 1,375 ballot papers during the WA Senate recount. * 4 November 2013 – The AEC declares the result of the WA Senate recount, awarding the last two seats to the Greens and Australian Sports Party, instead of the ALP and Palmer United Party. * 15 November 2013 – The AEC, Palmer United candidate Wang, and voter Simon Mead lodge a petition with the

in its capacity as the

, asking that the WA Senate result be declared null and void. * January 2014 – Justice

Kenneth Hayne Kenneth Madison Hayne (born 5 June 1945) is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. Early life and education Hayne was born in Gympie, Queensland and attended Scotch College, Melbou ...

, in the Court of Disputed Returns, hears submissions from the AEC and political parties. On 30 January 2014, Hayne reserved his decision. * 20 February 2014 – The Court of Disputed Returns voids the results of the WA Senate election. Hayne ruled that the margins between Palmer United and the Australian Sports Party for the fifth seat and the Greens and ALP for the sixth seat were far exceeded by the number of missing ballots. Hayne ruled that since the voters who cast those missing ballots had effectively been "prevented from voting", no remedy short of a new election was appropriate. * 21 February 2014 – Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn announces his resignation, which will take effect on 4 July 2014. * 28 February 2014 – McCusker announced the election date as Saturday 5 April 2014 * 13 March 2014 – closing date for nomination of candidates. * 5 April 2014 – election day.

2013 Senate result background

The Senate after the 2013 election, once the new senators' terms started on 1 July 2014, was originally going to consist of the Coalition government on 33 seats with the Labor opposition on 25 seats and a record

crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

of 18 – the Greens on ten seats, Palmer United on two seats, with other minor parties and independents on six seats – the LDP's

David Leyonhjelm David Ean Leyonhjelm ( "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party from 2014 to 2019. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he ...

, Family First's Bob Day,

Motoring Motoring may refer to: * ''Motoring'' (film), a 1927 British comedy film * Motoring (TV series), a Canadian automotive television program (1988 to present) * 310 Motoring, an automotive customization garage based in Los Angeles, California * Mot ...

Ricky Muir Ricky Lee Muir (born 25 December 1980) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 2014 to 2016. Muir was elected to the Senate at the 2013 federal election, standing for the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party (AM ...

, Sports Party's

and incumbents

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...

and the DLP's John Madigan. The Coalition government would originally have required the support of at least six non-coalition Senators to pass legislation. Most Senate votes cast in Western Australia were subject to a formal recount. During the recount it was determined that WA Senate ballot papers could not be located. After the final recount the result was duly declared which changed the last two predicted WA Senate spots from Palmer and Labor back to Sports Party and Greens.

Mick Keelty Michael Joseph Keelty AO (born 13 July 1954) is a retired Australian Police Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009. He was also the inaugural chairperson of the Australian Crime Commission, now known as the Australia ...

, a former AFP

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, was requested by the AEC to investigate the issue of the misplaced ballot papers. On 15 November, the AEC

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

ed the High Court, acting as the

, to seek an order from the court that the WA Senate election of all six senators (3 Liberal, 1 Labor, 1 Green, 1 Sports Party) be declared void. A record number of candidates stood at the election.

Group voting ticket A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member electoral divisions with si ...

s came under scrutiny because multiple candidates were provisionally elected with the vast majority of their 14.3 percent quotas coming from the preferences of other parties across the political spectrum. "Preference whisperer"

Glenn Druery Glenn Druery is an Australian political strategist, electoral campaigner and ultra-distance cyclist. He has played a leading role in the electoral success of various micro and minor parties in Australia since the mid-1990s. He acquired a reputat ...

organised tight cross-preferencing between many minor parties. The Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich won a Senate seat on a record-low primary vote of 0.2 percent in Western Australia, his party placing coming 21st out of 28 groups on primary votes. The result caused discussion across a range of organisations and parties about whether there should be changes to the GVT system.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 2014 Senate Special Election in Western Australia Federal elections in Australia 2014 elections in Australia Elections in Western Australia 2010s in Western Australia Australian Senate April 2014 events in Australia