“We’ve won the election, that’s what we’ve done”, Turnbull told the reporters in Sydney.
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The two seats the coalition hopes to pick up are among five in the balance, with the electoral commission still completing the painstaking task of counting postal votes and others cast outside people’s normal electorates.
While Mr Joyce and Deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash decided with the minor party on final Cabinet candidates, all will be up in the air until Mr Joyce and Mr Turnbull agree on the final Cabinet in coming days. Parties are required to hold at least 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a majority government, and the coalition has not yet reached that number.
The Coalition had also secured the supply and confidence backing of independents Bob Katter and Cathy McGowan in the event it didn’t win an outright majority as a Coalition.
The Coalition now has 74 of the 76 seats needed to form a majority government, with Labor trailing behind at 66.
“I note your advice that the Leader of the Opposition had conceded the election and acknowledged the re-election of your Government either as a minority Government with the support of the named crossbenchers or as a majority Government”, he wrote.
“It is something we should celebrate, but not take for granted that here in Australia we settle these big political issues, we settle who sits in our parliaments, we settle who governs our country, and we do so peacefully through our democratic processes”, Turnbull said.
Asked if Labor would push for a conscience vote, Shorten said: “Let’s see what we do when we get back to parliament”. That is one area in which he and Turnbull are aligned; the prime minister has long advocated for a move to electronic voting.
“And as I said, I wish Malcolm Turnbull well in what the future holds”, he said.
The hard legislative pathway after the election could force changes to some proposed legislation, several government figures said.
“Both major parties offered similar commitments in their election promises, but only the Liberal Party has a track record being innovation friendly while in government”.
In his victory speech, Turnbull praised Shorten for his statements and vowed “national unity”.
On the eve of the election, Turnbull pleaded with voters to ignore the smaller parties and independents and eschew what he dismissed as “a protest vote”.
On Thursday ratings agency Standard & Poor’s lowered Australia’s credit rating outlook from stable to negative, warning the country could lose its AAA rating unless it undertook budget fix. Turnbull promised a plebiscite on gay marriage later this year if elected and had said he wanted it done as soon as possible.
But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the opposition would campaign against any spending cuts that would hurt Australians on low incomes.
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If Turnbull falls short of 76 seats, he’ll need to rely on independents to pass legislation in the lower house as well.
