Just to play devil's advocate, though, isn't it the point of preferential voting that it's not just whoever gets the biggest share of the primary vote that wins?
Even if they had won a seat — if enough people indicated them as their second/third/... preference, then wouldn't this be the correct outcome, the party's political leanings nonwithstanding? All votes are valid expressions of a voter's will in preferential voting.
Otherwise you could just abolish all votes other than the primary and turn the whole thing back into a first-past-the-post system. Simpler, and it would keep small parties (like this one) from ever having a chance — but that's just why it's not a good system.
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Even if they had won a seat — if enough people indicated them as their second/third/... preference, then wouldn't this be the correct outcome, the party's political leanings nonwithstanding? All votes are valid expressions of a voter's will in preferential voting.
Otherwise you could just abolish all votes other than the primary and turn the whole thing back into a first-past-the-post system. Simpler, and it would keep small parties (like this one) from ever having a chance — but that's just why it's not a good system.