Only Five Of The 11 Crossbench Senators Elected In 2016 Are Still In Parliament
Skye Kakoschke-Moore
Only five of the 11 crossbench senators elected in 2016 remain in parliament  after Nick Xenophon Teamâs  former senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore âs hopes of rejoining the upper house were dashed.
Kakoschke-Mooreâs bid to fill her own vacancy â caused when she resigned from the Senate after learning she was entitled to dual British citizenship â was shut down unanimously within three minutes by the full bench of the High Court on Tuesday. The court ruled  Kakoschke-Moore  couldn't replace herself  even though she's now renounced her British citizenship. Instead her vacant South Australian seat will be filled by a special count by the electoral commission on Thursday  and is likely to be won by the fourth person on the NXT ticket  ex-NXT member Tim Storer. Storer quit the party last year after a dispute over who would replace outgoing NXT leader Nick Xenophon. Storer could serve as an independent if NXT fails to woo him back.
 Former NXT senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore  says  she  welcomes the High Court decision against  her  and looks forward toâ¦ https://t.co/ay1hP4r4UQ
The High Court's  Kakoschke-Moore  decision is a big blow to NXT's once powerful Senate voting bloc. Not only has the party potentially dropped from three to two seats  but also gone is its influence to block legislation or force the government into negotiations over key bills. The demise of NXT will cause a Senate crossbench power vacuum  which could potentially be filled by an unlikely alliance between lone wolves Cory Bernardi  Fraser Anning and David Leyonhjelm. Despite having vastly different political views  the three have formed a voting bloc in a power play. So where does this leave the numbers in the Senate?
Ignoring the current three paired vacancies left by  Kakoschke-Moore   Labor's Sam Dastaryi (to be filled by Kristina Keneally later this week) and Liberal George Brandis (to be filled next month)  the government needs nine of the 11 crossbenchers to pass legislation opposed by Labor and the Greens.
Only five of the 11 crossbench senators elected in 2016 remain in parliament  after Nick Xenophon Teamâs   [TGT]  were dashed.
Kakoschke-Mooreâs bid to fill her own vacancy â caused when she resigned from the Senate after learning she was entitled to dual British citizenship â was shut down unanimously within three minutes by the full bench of the High Court on Tuesday. The court ruled   [TGT] couldn't replace  [TGT]   even though  [TGT] 's now renounced  [TGT]  British citizenship. Instead  [TGT]  vacant South Australian seat will be filled by a special count by the electoral commission on Thursday  and is likely to be won by the fourth person on the NXT ticket  ex-NXT member Tim Storer. Storer quit the party last year after a dispute over who would replace outgoing NXT leader Nick Xenophon. Storer could serve as an independent if NXT fails to woo him back.
  [TGT] says   [TGT]   welcomes the High Court decision against   [TGT]   and looks forward toâ¦ https://t.co/ay1hP4r4UQ
The High Court's   [TGT] decision is a big blow to NXT's once powerful Senate voting bloc. Not only has the party potentially dropped from three to two seats  but also gone is its influence to block legislation or force the government into negotiations over key bills. The demise of NXT will cause a Senate crossbench power vacuum  which could potentially be filled by an unlikely alliance between lone wolves Cory Bernardi  Fraser Anning and David Leyonhjelm. Despite having vastly different political views  the three have formed a voting bloc in a power play. So where does this leave the numbers in the Senate?
Ignoring the current three paired vacancies left by  Kakoschke-Moore   Labor's Sam Dastaryi (to be filled by Kristina Keneally later this week) and Liberal George Brandis (to be filled next month)  the government needs nine of the 11 crossbenchers to pass legislation opposed by Labor and the Greens.