Senator Cory Bernardi says the mistakes of the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd years are being repeated 'ad nauseam' Courtesy: Sky News

AUSTRALIA is watching the lower house results with bated breath, but it’s the mangled Senate that shows how volatile the nation is now looking. 

The Coalition is ahead with 35.1 per cent of the vote to Labor’s 30.6 per cent, a swing of 2.7 per cent away from the Coalition. 

This will leave the government with a crossbench that’s likely to be larger than the one that ruled the last Senate. 

That’s a real headache for Malcolm Turnbull, for whom the whole point of calling a double dissolution election was to shore up a Liberal-National majority in the upper house and make it easier to get legislation through. 

Of 76 seats in the Senate, estimates predict the Coalition will win at least 29, Labor 25 and the Greens nine. 

It looks likely the Prime Minister will have to get his bills past at least nine crossbenchers, a rowdy rabble comprising three Nick Xenophon Team members, Derryn Hinch, Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson and potentially as many as three more from One Nation. 

This motley crew has already begun its infighting and sniping — quite different to the stable government Mr Turnbull had hoped to see. 

‘ERECT A CIRCUS STAND ON THE LAWNS OF PARLIAMENT HOUSE’

Ms Hanson, whose policies include making Islam admit it’s not a religion and getting ice users to pay to stop using ice, today warned on her Facebook page that she would not give interviews unless the media stopped treating her as “a punching bag”. 

Senator Xenophon said he “fundamentally disagreed” with his future colleague’s anti-immigration stance, but would “do my best to engage with [Ms Hanson] constructively without compromising my beliefs.” 

Derryn Hinch, the “Human Headline”, told news.com.au he was “not looking forward” to working with the One Nation leader and that the pair had “very little in common.” 

The 72-year-old, who has spent time behind bars for revealing the identities of convicted paedophiles, mocked her ideas for putting CCTV in mosques, asking why you wouldn’t put them in churches. 

“She’s very pleasant, but very unpleasant things come out of her mouth,” he added. 

Mr Hinch’s Justice Party’s policies include a public register of convicted sex offenders, a Senate inquiry into the Family Court, an end to live animal exports and euthanasia laws. 

He warned: “I will not bend strongly on issues I feel strongly about and trade off on something. 

“It’s time to keep the bastards honest.” 

Insiders host Barry Cassidy summed up the situation: “The Prime Minister called a double dissolution, now let’s have a look at the result of that handiwork. 

“Fred Nile is in there, and you have Pauline Hanson and Derryn Hinch.  They will have to erect a circus stand on the lawns of Parliament House.” 

THE DREADED DOUBLE D

It’s not just the independents that are the problem, with Labor and the Greens opposed to re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission. 

The PM called a double dissolution election when he couldn’t get the ABCC Bill passed, which meant every seat in the Senate went up for grabs, rather than just half now and the other half in three years. 

The problem with this is that it meant the threshold to gain a seat was lowered, allowing minority parties to sneak in. 

It’s also caused a further headache over the question who should hold their seat for a full six-year term and who should hold it for just three. 

There are currently eight crossbenchers, who the government has lately attempted to avoid by making deals with Labor and the Greens to pass changes to the pension and fuel excise. 

This new mob may not let them get away with that so easily. 

THE STICKING POINTS

The Coalition campaigned on having a plebiscite on legalising same-sex marriage.  Now that all looks up in the air. 

While Ms Hanson and Ms Lambie would support a referendum or plebiscite, Labor wants a conscience vote among MPs, and the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team also oppose taking it to a national vote

Mr Turnbull will struggle to get his signature $50 billion corporate tax cuts past the Senate, with only Mr Hinch likely to support him. 

Labor and Senator Xenophon have said they are only open to a tax cut for smaller companies with a turnover of up to $10 million. 

The Coalition isn’t interested, but Labor, the Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and One Nation and even a Nationals senator have all separately proposed a Royal Commission into the banking sector. 

Labor and the Greens are also keen to see a carbon emissions trading scheme, which would most likely be opposed by several of the crossbenchers. 

Even if the government is returned to power, it may well have to do many things it isn’t very happy about. 

We don’t yet know what that will mean for the nation, beyond deep uncertainty. 

emma.reynolds@news.com.au