A disgraced former Labor minister and One Nation candidate are among the newly elected crossbenchers in Victoria's upper house.
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Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell was also elected as the first One Nation representative into Victorian parliament as one of five Northern Region representatives, joining Liberal MP Wendy Lovell, Labor MP and state attorney-general Jaclyn Symes, Gaelle Broad from the Nationals, and Georgie Purcell from the Animal Justice Party.
Check out where the Northern Victoria region members are based here:
Former Labor minister-turned-Democratic Labour Party representative Adem Somyurek claimed the final seat in the Northern Metropolitan region after a tight battle with Reason Party leader Fiona Patten.
Ms Patten conceded defeat late on Monday and was not at the official declaration of results at the Melbourne Showgrounds on Wednesday.
Mr Somyurek left the Labor Party under a cloud of branch stacking accusations.
In 2020, Mr Somyurek was accused of handing over cash and using parliamentary employees to create fake members to amass political power, allegations ultimately investigated by integrity agencies.
That joint inquiry uncovered unethical and inappropriate behaviour within Labor, including bullying, taxpayer-funded jobs for unqualified people to undertake factional work, rampant nepotism and forging signatures.
Adverse findings were made against Mr Somyurek but no charges were laid.
Liberal candidate Renee Heath was elected to the Eastern Victoria region as expected.
During the election campaign, then-opposition leader Matthew Guy announced Ms Heath would not sit within the parliamentary Liberal Party over her links to the controversial City Builders church, but new leader John Pesutto reversed the decision.
Labor needs at least six crossbenchers to vote with them to pass legislation.
Premier Daniel Andrews led Labor to a sweeping victory to secure a third term in power at the election on November 26.
Labor won 56 out of 88 seats in the Victorian lower house, winning a bigger majority than it had in its last term.
The coalition secured 31 and the Greens claimed four.
The Labor Party won 55 seats in the so-called "Danslide" election of 2018.
Australian Associated Press
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