The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, said Labor would "respect the totality" of the High Court decision. Manager of opposition business Tony Burke said on Tuesday that if the High Court found Ms Gallagher had not taken reasonable steps, Labor would "obviously have to deal with that across the board". Sky News reported on Tuesday the three Labor MPs would resign if Ms Gallagher were ruled ineligible. That would set up byelections in the Queensland seat of Longman, the Western Australian seat of Fremantle and the Tasmanian seat of Braddon.
The Coalition would be hopeful of gaining the seat of Longman, which Ms Lamb won on a margin of just 0.8 per cent. The seat was previously held by Liberal frontbencher Wyatt Roy. Ms Sharkie said she was urgently seeking legal advice following Wednesday's decision and she believed her circumstances were “materially different” to Ms Gallagher’s, an indication she may refer her case to the High Court. Mr Porter, the country's chief law officer, said that was incorrect. "Her case is indistinguishable," he said. "The four cases are legally and in-principle indistinguishable from each other and from the case of Senator Gallagher."