Election 2019: Katy Gallagher and Zed Seselja go back to the future

A year and 10 days after the High Court said she was ineligible to sit in Parliament, Ms Gallagher is back, winning the first quota easily.

The former chief minister has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in that time, Ms Gallagher told party faithful on Saturday night.

"A year ago, I didn't think I wanted to go back into politics, I was pretty shattered by the whole experience and I had a few weeks to think it over and when I said I would renominate I was still in two minds," Ms Gallagher said on Saturday night.

"Today I realised a hundred per cent that I was right to re-contest and that I would have been, just that feeling of going around the booth today and being really part of it, just made me realise that I had made the right decision, so it's been a very unusual 12 months for me."

Ms Gallagher said she wasn't sure if she would go back into the senior roles she held previously for the Labor party.

"We'll see. The great thing about the Labor party is that we're a very sort of flat hierarchy. It's very democratic process that goes through that."

"I worked really well with Penny [Wong] and I know she wants me to come back and be her right hand person and I have to say she was a big reason why I wanted to go back because I loved working with Penny."

Celebrating her own win at a time of uncertainty for the party, Ms Gallagher said it would be a long night waiting for results to come in.

"We always knew it was going to be close and this also shows how very local politics has become, those sort of national swings or state swings aren't really there anymore."

Despite concerted campaigns against him, the Liberals' Zed Seselja is also set to be returned to the Senate.

Mr Seselja's seat had been targeted by the Greens, independent Anthony Pesec and the union movement, but no group managed to swing enough votes away from the assistant treasurer.

Senator Seselja said that he wasn't bothered by the personal campaigns and the result was a sign that such campaigns weren't successful.

"I think it's also a bit of a rejection of the politics of personal denigration, we didn't respond to those we didn't get into a personality contest with Labor and the Greens and the unions. We did talk about issues that I think many Canberrans care about so I was most pleased about that," he said.

"I know the volunteers when they see those sort of attacks and family see those kind of attacks they don't like it, but obviously the most important thing is that we just respond strongly and spoke about policy issues. To win it is a great relief obviously."

Senator Seselja said he was looking forward to returning to the Senate, likely in government.

"When I woke up this morning I thought, I was hopeful of holding the Senate seat, but obviously the polls were showing us losing and so, it's amazing to see the way the country has responded to our message and the way that they've responded to our prime minister and our team and the policies we've put forward."