Live: Vote count continues as Labor seeks one more seat to form majority government

The Nadesalingams are preparing to return to Biloela, but their immigration battle is far from over

The Tamil asylum seeker family removed from Biloela in 2018 are set to return to the central Queensland town within weeks, allowing their five-year-old daughter to celebrate her first birthday outside of detention. 

Nades, Priya and their daughters, Kopika and Tharincaa, are expected to arrive back in their adopted home town by early June, according to supporters who have campaigned for their return for more than four years.

Friend and advocate, Angela Fredericks, said the Nadesalingam family, also known as the Murugappans, have already begun packing but certain legalities needed to be finalised before they could leave Perth, where they’ve been living in community detention since June 2021.

“They now have permission that they can actually pack their bags and they can book those flights and be on their way,” Ms Fredericks said.

The family were removed from Biloela by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers in March 2018 and have been held in detention – including on Christmas Island – for the four years since.

“This is the first time in four years that Priya and Nades get to decide their travel arrangements… the first time they get to choose when they get to move,” Ms Fredericks said.

Ms Fredericks said the flexibility allowed the “girls to say goodbye to their school friends” in Perth and for Priya and Nades to finish their jobs.

“We’ll have them home in Biloela before her [Tharincaa’s] fifth birthday, which is in mid-June and we can’t wait to celebrate that birthday with her – her first birthday not in detention,” she said.

• You can continue reading this story here

Macron agrees to ‘rebuild’ France-Australia ties during phone call with Albanese

Fiji PM says he had a ‘wonderful meeting’ with Penny Wong

The Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, tweeted “Fiji is not anyone’s backyard — we are part of a Pacific family. And our greatest concern isn’t geopolitics — it’s climate change.

“In that spirit, I had a wonderful meeting with Foreign Minister Penny Wong to strengthen our Vuvale Partnership with Australia.”

Dutton says Morrison did ‘nothing wrong’ in publicising boat turnback

Liberal MP Peter Dutton has backed the actions of Scott Morrison to request Border Force publicise the interception of a Sri Lankan refugee boat on election day. 

The ABC has confirmed Border Force released a statement with details of the interception after a direct request from the then Prime Minister’s office. 

The release was quickly followed by texts from the Liberal party to voters in marginal seats, urging them to back the Coalition at the polls to keep borders secure. 

The government has referred the matter to the head of the Home Affairs department for investigation. 

Mr Dutton says Mr Morrison did nothing wrong.

“I think wait for the investigation instead of the allegations being pushed by Labor,” he said.

“We’ll understand the facts and they can present that but there’s no evidence that I can see of Scott Morrison doing anything wrong.”

What is the future of the Nationals? 

ICYMI, the Nationals will meet in Canberra on Monday where leadership positions will be spilt, as they are after every election.

While Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester announced on Friday he will challenge Barnaby Joyce for the party’s leadership, he conceded he was unlikely to be successful, but said it was “time for a change” inside the party after last weekend’s federal election result.

So what will the future of the Nationals look like?

Professor Mark Kenny from the Australian National University spoke to News Breakfast earlier this morning and thinks the Nationals are “likely to stick with the status quo.”

“That seems to be Darren Chester’s view. He’s obviously a moderate within the Nationals and has a more socially progressive position than a good many Nationals. He would like to see the Nationals take on that more modern moderate persona.

“There would be some people who agree with him, but he seems to acknowledge that he’s running here to make that point and Barnaby Joyce seems to have a commanding position.

“That said, there’s long been a view that David Littleproud, the deputy at the moment, would be a better choice. That he represent a better long-term future for the Nationals. I’ve spent some time with David Littleproud and he is an impressive character, the way that he deals with people and relates to people in the regions, in the country, is probably more like the way for the future for Nationals than someone like Barnaby Joyce.

“But at the moment, they’re pretty solidly lined up behind Joyce. Littleproud hasn’t declared one way or another whether he’s going to run. I think if he were to run, it would be interesting, because his base and Joyce’s base are not absolutely the same but they pretty much overlap. It’s a relatively small party room and small realignments can be quite decisive in the outcome.”

Will Pauline Hanson win a Queensland Senate seat?

Hi team, can you give us an update on the Senate please. Did Pauline Hanson win or lose her seat? Thanks.

-Jen

Good morning Jen,

It has been a close race for the state’s final Senate seat, and there was doubt cast earlier in the week about whether One Nation leader Pauline Hanson – who is currently sidelined with a bout COVID-19 – would get back in.

But now it’s looking like she will.

ABC’s Chief Election Analyst Antony Green says her fiercest rival was the LNP, which has already claimed two of the six seats, but that she would likely come out ahead based on preferences.

“She’s well positioned to win a seat,” he says.

“The race is then probably on between the third LNP member and Hanson for the final seat, maybe Legalise Cannabis but more likely, and based on analysis of the last seven election preferences from excluded candidates who favour Hanson over the LNP,” he said.

He said the Senate count is less advanced than the lower house.

With the electoral commission focused on finalising the House of Representatives, we could be waiting until early July for a formal result.

Analysis | After a shattering election loss to Albanese, the Coalition carries on with chutzpah

As the new government this week set about establishing a fresh tone for Australia, the old one seemed to continue on with its day-to-day politics as if nothing notable had happened last Saturday, writes Laura Tingle. 

Many of Morrison’s inner circle have lost their seats in this election. But his closest political ally, Stuart Robert, was on the radio on Friday morning rejecting the idea that the order for Border Force to release the statement had breached the caretaker conventions and proper process.

He couldn’t comment on it, he said, “having not been involved, but I think all Australians understand Labor by virtue of history is incredibly weak on boat arrivals”.

So, even after being in office for almost a decade, the best a former Coalition cabinet minister could do when confronted by an appalling politicisation of a process his own side had long described as holy writ, was to prosecute a case against the government before his government that had just lost the election.

As if the Coalition hasn’t just been devastated in its heartland and there might be a cause for pause, for reflection, for some indication that the voters may have sent a message.

• You can continue reading Laura Tingle’s analysis here

600 votes between Greens and Labor in Brisbane

Let’s take a closer look at the seat of Brisbane now that the Australian Electoral Commission are analysing the current three-candidate preferred status. 

By the raw numbers, sitting LNP member Trevor Evans is ahead on first preferences, while the Greens and Labor have shared time in second place throughout the week.

Even though Evans is leading the first-preference count, the combined votes of the Labor and Greens candidates equate to more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Right now, Greens candidate Stephen Bates is currently ahead of Labor’s Madonna Jarrett by 606 votes. 

Three candidate preferred (3CP) for Brisbane, QLD

Here’s the ABC’s Chief Election Analyst Antony Green with some more details: 

The count in Brisbane will exclude the four lowest polling candidates first. This will determine an order for the final three candidates, LNP, Labor and Green.

The preference count shown here uses a preference estimate for the first four exclusions provided to me by scrutineers that is running at 35.1% to Greens, 15.6% to Labor and 49.3% LNP.

This currently puts the Greens ahead of Labor during the distribution of preferences and results in the Greens going on to defeat the LNP.

The result may flip to Labor winning if further counting changes the balance of Labor versus Green first preferences or alters the exclusion order during the distribution of preferences.

AEC releases three-candidate preferred counts in Brisbane, Macnamara

The Australian Electoral Commission has released three-candidate preferred counts for the seats of Brisbane and Macnamara.

The ABC’s Chief Election Analyst Antony Green says Brisbane’s count is “very complete and points to the Greens winning when absents are counted on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Macnamara’s count is not as complete, making it difficult to interpret at the moment.

Which four seats are still in doubt?

It’s been one week since the federal election and there’s still four seats in doubt.

Here’s how it’s currently shaking out:

1. 1.

   Brisbane, QLD — Greens likely

2. 2.

   Deakin, VIC – Liberals ahead

3. 3.

   Gilmore, NSW — Liberals ahead

4. 4.

   Macnamara, VIC — ALP likely

You can explore our results page here.

Dutton says government should explain why it intervened in Biloela family case

Liberal MP Peter Dutton says he wants the government to confirm if it acted on advice from the Department of Home Affairs when intervening in the case of the Tamil asylum seeker family.

Acting Home Affairs Minister Jim Chalmers used his ministerial power to grant the Nadesalingam family bridging visas and allow them to return to Biloela in Central Queensland.

The family of four were detained by immigration officials and removed from the town in 2018, and have been in immigration detention since.

Mr Dutton — who held the Home Affairs portfolio from 2017 to 2021 — says the government should explain why it intervened.

“The government has to declare whether or not this was against advice or based on the advice from the Department,” he said.

“This is a very difficult issue because there are millions and millions of people who aren’t refugees who want to come to our country. “

Good morning, here’s what’s happening today

It’s been one week since the federal election, and the race between the four remaining seats is tightening, with Labor still one electorate short of forming a majority government. 

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Peter Dutton says he wants the new government to confirm if it acted on advice from the Department of Home Affairs when intervening in the case of the Tamil asylum seeker family. 

I’m Jessica Riga and I’ll be keeping you up to date today as the vote count continues.