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One Nation, Greens grab final Senate spots … but wait

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party and the Greens picked up the final two WA positions.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party and the Greens picked up the final two WA positions. Photo: SBS

Western Australia’s remaining Senate seats have been decided, with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party and the Greens picking up the final two positions.

The results come more than four weeks after the federal election was held.

They have revealed One Nation candidate Rod Culleton and incumbent senator Rachel Siewert from the Greens have been elected to the house.

However, the eligibility of Mr Culleton is in doubt due to a criminal conviction in New South Wales over the theft of a tow truck key during an altercation with its driver.

One Nation senator in waiting, Rod Culleton. Photo: onenation.com.au

One Nation senator in waiting, Rod Culleton. Photo: onenation.com.au

He is also awaiting trial in WA over allegations he stole a $27,000 hire car last year.

Mr Culleton said he was convicted over the NSW charge in his absence because he was on bail for the WA charge.

The most likely outcome if he is deemed ineligible is that the seat will go to the number two or three candidates on the One Nation ticket — his brother-in-law Peter Georgiou — or his wife Ioanna Culleton.

Mr Culleton struggled to defend or explain some of the party’s key policies last week in his first sit-down interview since the election.

Overall, the Liberal Party won five of the 12 Senate seats in WA, with Labor taking four, the Greens two and One Nation one.

The landscape remains largely unchanged, with 10 of the state’s 12 senators having been re-elected.

The Liberals returned one fewer member with David Johnston failing to get back in, while Palmer United Party’s Dio Wang also lost his position.

Mr Culleton and Labor’s Louise Pratt — who was a senator from 2008 until 2014 — are the new additions.

If he does enter the Senate, he will join a colourful crossbench, with One Nation and Nick Xenophon Team sending new members from Queensland and South Australia respectively.

New senators will attend “Senate School” in Canberra next month.

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