When the Coalition takes another run at its company tax plan,Tim Storer's vote will be crucial. But the new senator has proved to be elusive.
What went wrong for Cory Bernardi and Nick Xenophon in South Australia? Simple:the voters worked them out.
Minor parties play the media game well but their share of the vote is not matching their share of the airtime.
The results in Batman and South Australia demonstrate that Labor comes out on top when it engages in a contest of values.
Strategists on all sides say the single worst thing that happened to Xenophon was a Newspoll just before Christmas.
Nick Xenophon told supporters his team has established a"beach head"in South Australia despite a poor result that could see non SA Best MPs elected.
As the polls closed in South Australia,the result of the election was still anyone's guess.
For an anti-gambling guy,Nick Xenophon made a large and risky bet on re-entering SA politics. But as the campaign ended,his juggernaut appeared to be slowing.
The SA election remains diabolically hard to pick thanks to the Nick Xenophon factor but major party strategists suspect his share of the vote has tapered off.
'There are people who can't afford to buy food in a Woolworths Supermarket because they have lost their money at a Woolworths poker machine.'
Subscriptions to reputable news outlets should be made tax deductible,and the nation's harsh defamation laws should be reviewed,a parliamentary inquiry into journalism has recommended.