One Nation secures NSW upper house seats

One Nation will have two seats in the New South Wales upper house, with crossbenchers holding the balance of power in the state's Legislative Council.

Mark Latham

Crossbenchers hold the balance of power in the NSW Legislative Council. (AAP)

Crossbenchers will hold the balance of power in the NSW upper house after the Liberal-National coalition lost three seats in the state's Legislative Council.

The coalition will have to rely on five votes from the expanded upper house crossbench to pass legislation after the final preferences were distributed on Monday afternoon.

One Nation will have two seats in the NSW upper house but former senator David Leyonhjelm missed out, despite being so confident of securing a spot he'd updated his Twitter bio to state he was a member of the state parliament.

Shortly after the final preferences were distributed, Mr Leyonhjelm had to alter his profile from "NSW MLC for the Liberal Democrats" to "former senator".

The last available seat went to One Nation candidate Rod Roberts, who's a former detective from Goulburn.

Mr Roberts will join former federal Labor leader and NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham at Macquarie Street when parliament resumes in May.

The second last seat was won by Animal Justice Party candidate Emma Hurst, who's a former media officer for animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The Liberal-National coalition government won eight of the 21 upper house seats up for grabs at the March 23 election, while Labor snared seven.

That means the new-look Legislative Council comprises 17 coalition MPs, 14 Labor MPs and an 11-member crossbench including three Greens.


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Source: AAP


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