• NSW election: David Leyonhjelm could miss out on seat, despite claiming victory
    4 replies, posted
Former Senator David Leyonhjelm's political career hangs in the balance, as his bid to be elected to the NSW Upper House comes down to the wire. Mr Leyonhjelm claimed victory in his quest for an Upper House seat two weeks ago, but as counting reaches its final stages, success for his Liberal Democrats is anything but certain. In a blog post titled "a manifesto for a crossbencher", Mr Leyonhjelm announced it was "evident" he had been elected and said he would be willing to work with the Berejiklian Government. "I have a long list of things I would like to see changed," he wrote. "So when the Government comes seeking my vote, I will bring out my list. "And if there is agreement to make progress on something, there is a good chance it will get my vote." ... His chance of securing a spot in NSW's Legislative Council is looking increasingly unlikely. So far, the Liberal Democrats have secured just 0.46 of a quota, or just under half the votes it needs to secure a seat in the Upper House. That means Mr Leyonhjelm has to rely on preferences to make up a full quota and he will have to wait until Monday morning to hear the results of the Electoral Commission's final count. Eighteen of the 21 seats in the Upper House are clear — with the Coalition winning eight, Labor six, Greens two and one each for One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers. ABC chief election analyst Antony Green said three seats were still up for grabs. "The final three seats will be decided by preferences ... Labor is expected to win one of these seats, electing a seventh member," he said. "In the race are Christian Democrat MLC Paul Green, One Nation's second candidate Rod Roberts and former Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm. "The Animal Justice Party's Emma Hurst is also an outside chance if there are strong flows of preferences." https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/nsw-election-results-mean-nervous-wait-for-david-leyonhjelm/10996526
"In the race are Christian Democrat MLC Paul Green, One Nation's second candidate Rod Roberts and former Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm. Holy shit what an absolute shithole of a fucking electorate. God I fucking hate NSW.
The fringe parties tend to be in the contest for the last few seats (last few scraps) in the upper house elections. Note that the Coalition, Labor and the Greens combined already have 16 of the 21 seats called for them - with Labor poised to pick up another one.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/15/david-leyonhjelm-fails-to-win-seat-in-nsw-upper-house He didn't win his seat as the One Nation candidate taking it. And even then, this was his mistake of trying take it in the statewide level.
If anything, he was attempting to secure his political career by going from the Senate to the NSW Legislative Council. The threshold for election to the Senate is 14.3% at a normal federal election, whereas the threshold for election to the NSW Legislative Council is only 4.5%. Also, NSW MLCs have 8-year terms, whereas Senators only have 6-year terms.
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