Ms Hanson is confident of securing at least two Senate spots out of Queensland. The Liberal Democrats, Fred Nile's conservative Christian Democratic Party and other micro-party candidates are also still in the running. Jacqui Lambie has been returned in Tasmania. Credit:Robert Peet Mr Turnbull had hoped the double dissolution election, which put all 76 Senate spots up for grabs, would clean out a recalcitrant crossbench and allow a Coalition government to start anew. However the results suggest that strategy has misfired, and the next government may be forced to deal with a larger, more multifarious crossbench than the eight that wielded power in last Senate. It raises questions over whether the Coalition, if returned to power, could pass key reforms including its proposed company tax cuts.

On Sunday, the ABC and political strategists were predicting the Coalition would secure about 30 Senate spots, a loss of three, and Labor would likely gain two spots with 27 senators. Incoming senator Derryn Hinch has been to jail twice and fined $100,000 for breaching court orders. Credit:Scott Barbour The Greens are predicted to finish with nine senators, a loss of one. It appears the Palmer United Party's sole remaining senator, Zhenya "Dio" Wang, was not re-elected in WA, and One Nation's success has come at the expense of former PUP senator and rugby league legend Glenn Lazarus in Queensland. On Sunday, Australian Electoral Commission boss Tom Rogers was forced to address reports made on social media and elsewhere of long queues at polling places and of booth officials giving misleading advice about the new Senate voting system, which asked voters to number at least six boxes above the line. A long queue of voters outside a polling station in Sydney on Saturday. Credit:Jeremy Piper

Speaking on Sky News, Mr Rogers suggested the new voting rules meant people took more time to complete their vote, causing ballot box delays. He said the commission advertised the Senate voting changes heavily before the election and "instructions on the ballot paper were very clear … [about] what people had to do to cast a formal vote". Million of voters "were able to go into a polling place calmly, safely cast a vote of their choice in secret, then leave without being harassed and I think that's a herculean effort by the staff of the [commission]," he said. However Ben Oquist, executive director of left-leaning think tank The Australia Institute, said Mr Rogers' response was "not good enough". He called for a "thorough inquiry and review" into the allegations, including that voters were told they must not number more than six boxes above the line. "Clearly there is widespread confusion [about the new Senate voting rules] and the AEC really needs to come clean on what happened," he said.

"It's a potential disaster because that could affect the outcome of tight contests if voters aren't voting in the way they would have liked." Follow us on Twitter