“There are lessons to be learnt from this election”, he said.
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Christopher Pyne, the government leader in the House of Representatives, said his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition would form a majority government following the weekend election or a minority government with the support of independents.
Even if the coalition wins a narrow majority in the lower house, Turnbull would then have to shepherd legislation through an even more intransigent Senate.
In one of the tightest election outcomes since federation the Coalition has suffered a 3.45 per cent two party preferred swing against it, with the Coalition winning a nationwide vote of 50.04 per cent to Labor’s 49.96 per cent.
Shorten said he accepted Turnbull had a mandate to pursue the policies he took to the election.
While six seats remain in doubt – Labor now leads in Flynn by just 7 votes – ABC election analyst Antony Green says Turnbull will be returned as PM with 77 seats.
But it is not yet known if the coalition will win enough seats in the House of Representatives to form a majority government or whether the country will have a hung parliament. Senator Cory Bernardi (whose wife Sinéad is Irish) posted a message on his website saying the election result was a “disaster” and that it was important to unite “Australian Conservatives. regardless of their party affiliation”.
The electoral commission put the coalition ahead in 74 seats, Labor in 71, and the minor parties and independents in five.
Labor vowed not to unduly disrupt the new parliament, however.
Turnbull (pictured) was in talks with the new crossbench to secure government.
Immigration Minister Dutton may be added to the national security cabinet, a role that was stripped from him previous year after Turnbull wrestled the leadership from Abbott, according to the the newspaper, which didn’t say where it got the information.
Shorten had earlier held a press conference to officially acknowledge Turnbull would form government.
He told ABC Radio that Malcolm Turnbull “will continue as Prime Minister” and it was now “simply a matter of whether they have got a majority or not”.
“We’re a grown-up democracy”, Shorten said.
A third independent lined up behind the centre-right Liberal-National coalition government after a personal plea from Turnbull to help him return to power after Saturday’s cliffhanger election.
In three coastal Queensland electorates – Flynn, Capricornia and Herbert – the flow of postal and absentee votes has favoured the Coalition over the past few days.
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However Labor’s lead in Hindmarsh is slipping, down from 177 votes to 161. “But the people have spoken, their votes are being counted and we await the conclusion of that counting process”. The ALP candidate in Cowan, Anne Aly, will become the first Muslim woman elected to Federal Parliament should she win.
