Some MPs have accused Mr Turnbull of running a poor campaign and opposition leader Bill Shorten has repeatedly called on the prime minister to step down.
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Before counting resumed on Tuesday the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) had the coalition on 67 seats, Labor on 71, with six undetermined and independent and minor parties on six.
The final result from Saturday polls is still unclear, but Turnbull’s conservative coalition has lost its comfortable majority in Canberra’s 150-seat House of Representatives.
Turnbull has said he is confident of securing a majority, though has begun talks with independent lawmakers and minor parties in case he is forced to form a minority government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has edged closer to forming Government after two more crossbenchers pledged their support on confidence and supply.
After the meeting Mr Katter said he had agreed to support the government if it fell short of a majority.
“We have areas of agreement and disagreement with both sides – but we stand ready to work with whatever party forms government and the rest of the Parliament”.
Postal votes have seen seats like Nationals-held Flynn in rural Queensland and Liberal-held Cowan in Western Australia, which looked to be held by Labor on the night, surge towards the Coalition.
This would be a big contrast with the 2010 election that gave Labor only 72 seats to form a minority government that depended on the Greens and independents to pass legislation.
As well as looking ahead to what the potentially chaotic 45th Parliament of Australia may look like, the Coalition is also reflecting on where it went wrong in the campaign it was so sure of winning.
The surge in support for independents, combined with rules that make it easier for smaller parties to win Senate seats in a so-called double dissolution of parliament, will likely make it impossible for Turnbull to push through policies including a A$50 billion ($37.19 billion) corporate tax break over 10 years.
Senator Nick Xenophon spoke to Turnbull on Wednesday about his Nick Xenophon Team’s potential support of a minority government.
The prime minister will probably appoint younger members of the Liberal Party’s conservative bloc, such as Michael Sukkar and Zed Seselja, to ministerial vacancies created by election losses, the newspaper said.
On Wednesday Treasurer Scott Morrison said he remained confident the Coalition would pick up the 76 seats necessary to form government.
The counting nationally still tells the story of a frighteningly close call for the Prime Minister, however. Some, like far-right Queensland lawmaker Pauline Hanson, hold anti-immigration views.
But the millionaire former banker and barrister also attacked his Labor opponents, accusing them of a dishonest scare campaign targeting the nation’s universal healthcare system which he said amounted to a “shocking lie”.
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Meanwhile, economist Dr Andrew Charlton – a former adviser to ex-prime minister Kevin Rudd – has said whoever forms government will inherit some of the toughest external conditions in almost two decades.
