Christian Democratic MP Fred Nile will push for the legal drinking age to be raised to 21 and seek to give greater rights to unborn children if he is re-elected to the upper house, raising questions over how far the Baird government may lean to secure his critical crossbench support.

The octogenarian MP also says he's "ready and raring to go" and would be "lost" if he were no longer in Parliament, despite indicating he will hand over the baton before his eight-year term expires.

"I don't usually bargain with the government": Fred Nile Credit:Darren Pateman

Late on Sunday with just over half the Legislative Council votes counted, the Reverend Nile was widely expected to be returned, despite suffering a negative swing of about 0.4 per cent.