This interesting, lengthy Bloomberg article about the Australian Senate results, in the September 7, features the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was elected to the Australian Senate from New South Wales. It quotes him as saying he realized he might be able to win, after he discovered that his party had the best position on the ballot.
The Liberal Democrat Party could be considered Australia’s Libertarian Party. It is not associated with the Liberal Party, which is one of Australia’s major parties. Australia uses proportional representation combined with ranked-choice voting for its Senate elections. The smaller parties cooperated to have their voters support each other. Thanks to John Fund for the link.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/detours-ahead-as-minor-parties-claim-senate-balance-20130908-2te36.html
has an interesting interesting interview with the “senator for the donkeys”.
The Liberal Democrats also re-registered the Outdoor Recreation and Smoker Rights parties to collect votes that were then transferred to them. This is somewhat like the slogan parties used in con-fusion systems like New York.