| Election Name: | 2014 Western Australian Senate election |
| Country: | Western Australia |
| Seats For Election: | 6 (of 12) Western Australian Senate seats |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Election Date: | 5 April 2014 |
| Image1: | Senator Eric Abetz crop.jpg |
| Leader1: | Eric Abetz |
| Party1: | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Leaders Seat1: | Tasmania |
| Seats Before1: | 6 |
| Seats1: | 3 |
| Seats After1: | 6 |
| Popular Vote1: | 435,220 |
| Percentage1: | 34.06% |
| Swing1: | 8.93pp |
| Leader2: | Penny Wong |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | South Australia |
| Seats Before2: | 4 |
| Seats2: | 1 |
| Seats After2: | 3 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 275,094 |
| Percentage2: | 21.53% |
| Swing2: | 8.17pp |
| Image4: | Christine Milne profile.jpg |
| Leader4: | Christine Milne |
| Party4: | Australian Greens |
| Leaders Seat4: | Tasmania |
| Seats Before4: | 2 |
| Seats4: | 1 |
| Seats After4: | 2 |
| Popular Vote4: | 199,538 |
| Percentage4: | 15.60% |
| Swing4: | 1.64pp |
| Image5: | Clive Palmer Aug15 crop.jpg |
| Leader5: | Clive Palmer |
| Party5: | Palmer United Party |
| Leaders Seat5: | MP for Fairfax |
| Seats Before5: | — |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | New |
| Popular Vote5: | 157,740 |
| Percentage5: | 12.34% |
| Swing5: | New |
On 5 April 2014, an Australian Senate special election in Western Australia was held.[1] The special election was held six months after the 2013 Australian federal election. The result of that 2013 election for the Australian Senate in Western Australia was voided on 20 February 2014 by the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, because 1,375 ballot papers 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.[2] [3]
Following the election on 5 April, preferences were distributed on 29 April 2014 according to the group voting ticket voting system used at that time.[4] [5] The outcome was 3 senators from the Liberal Party of Australia, 1 from the Australian Labor Party, 1 from the Australia Greens and 1 from the Palmer United Party. Compared to the November 2013 result, the Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich was replaced by Dio Wang 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 election have occurred several times due to effluxion of time, the last one in 1970.
The date was set by Sir Peter Cosgrove, the Governor-General of Australia, on the advice of Prime Minister Tony Abbott. However, the onus for setting times and processes fell on the Governor of Western Australia, Malcolm McCusker, on the advice of Colin Barnett, Premier of Western Australia, in McCusker's obligations under the operation of the Election of Senators Act 1903 (WA).
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| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Continuing senators | Total seats | Change | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| / 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 | ||||
| Coalition total | 4,951,196 | 37.00 | –1.29 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Australian Labor Party | 3,965,284 | 29.63 | –5.50 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Australian Greens | 1,234,592 | 9.23 | –3.88 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Palmer United Party | 751,121 | 5.61 | +5.61 | 3 | – | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Liberal Democratic Party | 502,180 | 3.75 | +1.94 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Xenophon Group | 258,376 | 1.93 | +1.93 | 1 | – | 1 | |||||||||||
| Family First Party | 149,994 | 1.12 | –0.98 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Democratic Labour Party | 115,276 | 0.86 | –0.20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party | 66,807 | 0.50 | +0.50 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Other | 1,385,719 | 10.36 | +0.49 | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 13,380,545 | align=right | 40 | align=right | 36 | 76 | |||||||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | align = right | 403,380 | align = right | 2.93 | align = right | –0.82 | |||||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | align=right | 14,750,392 | align = right | 93.45 | |||||||||||||
| Source: Commonwealth Election 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
There were a number of candidate changes from the original election. Notable changes included:
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.
| Labor candidates | Liberal candidates | Greens candidates | Palmer candidates | Nationals candidates | Katter candidates | |||||||
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| Shooters & Fishers candidates | Christians candidates | Family First candidates | Australian Sex Party candidates | Wikileaks candidates | Liberal Democrats candidates | |||||||
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| Democrats candidates | Smokers' Rights candidates | HEMP candidates | Socialist Alliance candidates | Voice candidates | Fishing & Lifestyle candidates | |||||||
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| Secular candidates | Pirate candidates | Freedom & Prosperity candidates | Sustainable Population candidates | Outdoor Recreation candidates | Animal Justice candidates | |||||||
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| Motoring Enthusiast candidates | Sports candidates | Rise Up Australia candidates | Voluntary Euthanasia candidates | Building Australia candidates | Mutual candidates | |||||||
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| Republican candidates | DLP candidates | Group C candidates | Ungrouped candidates | |||||||||
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| valign=top | valign=top | Teresa van Lieshout (Ind) Kim Mubarak (Ind) | valign=top | valign=top |
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 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, Family First's Bob Day, Motoring's Ricky Muir, Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich and incumbents 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.[20] During the recount it was determined that WA Senate ballot papers could not be located.[21] [22] 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, a former AFP Commissioner, was requested by the AEC to investigate the issue of the misplaced ballot papers.[23] [24] On 15 November, the AEC petitioned the High Court, acting as the Court of Disputed Returns, 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.[25] [26] [27]
A record number of candidates stood at the election.[28] Group voting tickets 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 organised tight cross-preferencing between many minor parties.[29] [30] [31] 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.[32] [33] [34] The result caused discussion across a range of organisations and parties about whether there should be changes to the GVT system.[35] [36] [37]
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