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Senate reform could come next year: Greens

Australian Greens leader Richard di Natale says he suspects some reform of how the Senate is elected will happen next year.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale
Richard di Natale says he hopes the government will reform how the Senate is elected next year. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Australian Greens leader Richard di Natale says he hopes the government will reform how the Senate is elected next year.

Senator di Natale says he and the crossbenchers have met with Special Minister of State Mal Brough about changes that could hurt the electoral prospects of micro-parties and independents.

"I suspect that some reform will come up at some point next year - and I hope it happens because we do need to have a much more democratically elected Parliament," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

Clive Palmer is critical of any mooted change, claiming it could hurt the Palmer United Party.

He said polling suggests his party would do better at the next election than they did at the last, when they won three Senate seats.

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"(But) it depends how they try to game the system," he told the ABC on Sunday.

"They want to change the system to stop any other power but the Liberal or Labor Party or the Greens being able to be expressed in the Senate."

Mr Palmer said over three million Australians had voted for other parties and their rights should be respected.

In September, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talked down changes to Senate voting, saying crossbenchers are as "democratically elected" as he is.

But Mr Brough believes reform is urgently needed to stop the system from being "gamed".


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