Pauline Hanson's One Nation party is now a major force in Australian politics, having secured four Senate seats in an independent crossbench that has swelled to 11.
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The anti-Islam party scored two seats in Queensland, including one for Ms Hanson, and one in NSW, when results from the July 2 federal election were finalised in those two states on Thursday morning.
Adding to a seat already confirmed in Western Australia earlier this week, One Nation will have four senators when the 45th Parliament begins later this month. That is one more than the other major new force, the Nick Xenophon Team, which won three Senate seats in South Australia.
Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm was also re-elected in NSW, swelling the size of the independent crossbench to 11 (from eight in the previous Parliament).
The outcome is a repudiation of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's plan to clear out the Senate crossbench with a double dissolution election.
"A double dissolution is a very dangerous path to tread if you're trying to get a decent position in the Senate," election analyst Antony Green told the ABC on Thursday.
The numbers in the new-look Senate are as follows: Coalition 30, Labor 26, Greens 9, One Nation 4, Nick Xenophon Team 3, plus Jacqui Lambie, Derryn Hinch, Mr Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day.
In NSW, the Greens retained senator Lee Rhiannon, meaning the left-wing party will have nine senators and will also hold the balance of power, able to pass government bills without the help of Labor or the crossbenchers.
But the result will turn Ms Hanson into a Senate powerbroker. The Turnbull government will need her bloc, plus Mr Xenophon's, to pass any bills opposed by Labor and the Greens.
If it keeps its four senators united, One Nation could also team up with Labor and the Greens to form a blocking majority on any bill.
However, as Green told the ABC: "One Nation has a very poor record of keeping their [MPs] in the party for a full term. They've tended to split very quickly."
The country's newest Hanson-aligned senators are former coal mine manager Malcolm Roberts from Queensland and long-time party executive Brian Burston from NSW.
Mr Roberts, a leader of climate sceptic group the Galileo Movement, wants climate scepticism taught in schools and believes CSIRO scientists have conspired with the United Nations to produce "corrupt" reports on climate change.
Mr Burston, a former Cessnock councillor who acknowledged he was a "last minute" candidate, describes Islam as "an infringement on our culture".
"We're a Christian country, I know we have some Jews as well … but the Muslims, they kneel five times a day and it's not how we are in this country," he told News Corp.
One Nation's policy agenda calls for a royal commission into both Islam and climate science, and advocates the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target.
It is 20 years since Ms Hanson entered Australian politics by winning the lower house seat of Oxley, and used her maiden speech to lament that Australia was being "swamped by Asians".
Since, she has unsuccessfully contested several elections at federal and state levels, but has always maintained a band of loyal followers who support her anti-migrant policies and economic protectionism.
Mr Leyonhjelm scraped home in the last NSW Senate spot on a pro-gun, pro-smoking, anti-regulation policy platform. In the last Parliament he established an inquiry into the "nanny state", to examine government intervention in personal choices.
