We will work to rescue jobs: Nick
A JUBILANT Nick Xenophon has promised to use his party's new balance of power position in Parliament to try and save the jobs of manufacturing workers in South Australia and around the country. 
Senator Xenophon and triumphant Nick Xenophon Team   Mayo candidate Rebekha Sharkie were last night cheered by hundreds of supporters at Adelaide's East End Palace Cinemas complex. The fledgling the NXT Party appeared to have won at least three Senate seats in addition to performing strongly in the country Liberal seat of Grey, which was too close to call last night.
Senator Xenophon last night told The Advertiser his priority in the new Parliament would be negotiating measures to ensure the future of Whyalla steelmaker Arrium and to save manufacturing jobs.
"There's a tsunami of job losses coming around the country and we want to work with whoever forms government to address that," he said.
"I will negotiate from the centre and be reasonable and pragmatic." Senator Xenophon refused to say what the NXT would do if a hung Parliament was elected.
'That's hypothetical," he said.
In the past, Senator Xenophon has said that NXT MPs would consult their local communities in the event they had to choose which party formed a minority government.
In early Senate counting, it was expected the Nick Xenophon Team would secure three Senate seats, with the veteran Senator being joined by running mate Stirling Griff and Skye Kakoschke-Moore in the nation's capital. The Liberal Party are expected to win four seats, the Labor Party three, while the Greens and Family First are predicted to pick up one each. Senator Xenophon last night also revealed he would consult his new political colleagues about changing the name of their party.
In addition to supporting manufacturing jobs, the party planned to fight in the Senate to ensure free trade deals did not disadvantage local industries and for new integrity measures, including a federal anti-corruption commission.
Last night's results are a high-point in Senator Xenophon's political career which began when he was elected to the upper house of the SA State Parliament on a "No Pokies" platform. A decade later, he successfully ran for the Senate.
SA voters yesterday ignored Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's plea for them to shun the NXT and other minor parties.
It felt like a revival meeting as Senator Xenophon arrived to vote at the Zion Lutheran Church at Glynde in Industry Minister Christopher Pyne's electorate of Sturt.
"There could be a real sea change here in South Australia where the people of this state reject the tribal politics of Liberal and Labor and go to the political centre," Senator Xenophon said.
Support for Senator Xenophon surged in South Australia in the wake of GM Holden's decision to close its Elizabeth factory and after former prime minister Tony Abbott wobbled over honouring a promise to build 12 navy submarines in Adelaide.The closure of power plants at Port   Augusta and financial troubles at Whyalla steelmaker Arrium encouraged many SA voters to support Senator Xenophon, who has championed government support for Australian manufacturing.