Pauline Hanson comes up short

Pauline Hanson. Photo / Getty Images

Pauline Hanson has failed in her bid to be elected to the upper house of the NSW parliament.

Despite being well ahead on the primary votes, Ms Hanson was overtaken by Greens and Liberal-Nationals candidates when preferences were distributed this afternoon.

Ms Hanson stood as an independent candidate at the state election on March 26, having severed formal links with One Nation, the party she co-founded.

She moved from Queensland to the NSW mid-north coast last year and announced in early March she intended to run for an upper house seat.

As she entered the NSW Electoral Commission's western Sydney headquarters this morning for the final count she said she was "not overly confident".

Ms Hanson became notorious in Australian politics for her 1996 maiden speech in Parliament, in which she claimed immigration had to be curbed, especially for Asian migrants.

She was subsequently labelled a 'racist' in many quarters, a description she has always denied.

- AAP