Australians are this morning celebrating after controversial Queensland politician Fraser Anning was booted from the Senate.
The ABC's authority on vote counting, Antony Green, made the announcement last night, fittingly declaring "Fraser Anning goes back to where he came from".
Anning attracted only 19 votes in the last election — the second fewest out of 126 Queensland candidates — but still managed to secure a Senate seat when One Nation's Malcolm Roberts was ruled ineligible on citizenship grounds.
The news that Anning failed to secure the votes required has been heard around the world.
The UK's Independent newspaper reported on the result early, leading with the headline: "Right-wing Australian politician who blamed Muslims for Christchurch mosque attack loses seat."
So too did NBC News in the US, reminding readers that Anning was the target of a teen with an egg in March.
The 69-year-old's time in the Senate was littered with controversies. He said immediately after 50 Muslims were murdered during Friday prayers in two New Zealand mosques that the "real cause of bloodshed … is the immigration programme which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place".
He used taxpayer funds to fly around the country and meet with supporters, including convicted far-right criminals Blair Cottrell and Neil Erikson.
He stood side-by-side with Australians at a racist rally at Melbourne's St Kilda beach where some performed the Nazi salute at counter-protesters.
He used his maiden speech in the upper house to call for a return to a "European Christian" immigration system and was roundly condemned for invoking the term "final solution" when addressing a perceived "immigration problem".
He shared an image of a grieving family whose 19-month-old daughter went missing alongside the words "If you want a Muslim for a neighbour, just vote Labor."
Social media has, as expected, revelled in the news that Anning will no longer have the platform to share his views.
The senator was famously egged.
"Feels like Christmas … Fraser Anning out," Yasmin Sethi wrote.
"Disappointed with the election outcome — however we can all be thankful that the worst of the worst are gone, particularly Fraser Anning," Nicolas Hart wrote."
"You are sacked," John Fraser wrote.
Australia's most celebrated wheelchair athlete Kurt Fearnley predicted the result, tweeting on Friday that "tomorrow the country gets to rid itself of the stain that Fraser Anning was on our Parliament and country".
