Australia looks to have elected its first Indigenous female politician to federal parliament, with Nova Peris on track to win a Senate seat in the Northern Territory for the Labor party.
Peris, an Olympic gold medallist, was first on the party's Senate ticket in the territory, and with 40% of ballots vote counted Labor had 31.51% of the vote, meaning Peris should take the second of two seats up for grabs.
The former prime minister Julia Gillard approached Peris in January to run for election, with Labor's national executive ratifying the "captain's pick" in a 19-2 vote.
During the election campaign Peris told Guardian Australia she had been the victim of racial abuse since her candidacy was announced.
"I've received a whole heap of mail and it's been horrible. A lot of it came when I was first announced in February and then it died down again until now. There are a few keyboard warriors out there who want to throw things at me," she said.
