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Crikey
Crikey
National
Tess Ikonomou

Votes narrow as Labor inches to majority

Less than 35 votes separate one of the most closely contested seats in the federal election but Labor is pulling slightly ahead of the Greens. 

Postal votes appear to be favouring Labor candidate Madonna Jarrett over her Greens rival Stephen Bates in the seat of Brisbane.

Ms Jarrett had received 21,931 votes compared with Mr Bates, who had 21,897 tallied on Tuesday evening. 

Liberal MP Trevor Evans, first elected to the seat in 2016, received the highest number of primary votes but is not expected to gain enough preferences to win.  

The Greens upset Labor MP Terri Butler in her Queensland seat of Griffith with a swing towards candidate Max Chandler-Mather. 

Despite initial votes pointing to another Greens win in Ryan, sitting Liberal MP Julian Simmons has pulled ahead with the inclusion of postal votes and leads by 1463 votes. 

Another close contest in the NSW south coast seat of Gilmore shows Liberal candidate Andrew Constance leading Labor incumbent Fiona Phillips by 143 votes. 

On Wednesday morning, the Australian Electoral Commission tally showed Labor with 75 seats and the Liberal-National coalition with 61. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is on his way back on Wednesday from the Quad meeting in Japan, is still on track to form a government in his own right.

The final tally is expected to show Labor holding 76 seats to 61 for the coalition, with 14 crossbenchers.

This would mean Labor gained eight seats and the coalition lost 16 since the the 2019 federal election.  

As of Wednesday morning, former minister Michael Sukkar led the contest for the Victorian seat of Deakin by 730 votes against Labor hopeful Matt Gregg.

In the Senate, the coalition is on track to hold 31 seats, and Labor 26, in the 76-seat chamber from July. 

Labor will need 12 extra votes in the upper house to pass legislation, relying on the Greens for support.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is set to retain her Senate spot for Queensland.

One of the biggest upsets in the upper house has been to ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja, who is likely to be unseated by independent David Pocock. 

It would be the first time a Liberal senator has not been elected to represent the ACT in the Senate. 

Billionaire Clive Palmer will not win a Senate seat despite splashing about $100 million on his United Australia Party campaign.

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