M alcolm Turnbull has said he is “very confident” of achieving a majority as the Coalition becomes the firm favourite to form government.
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Mr Shorten said that for Mr Turnbull, it was “always just a matter of style”, rather than substance, rejecting some Coalition views that the “massive swing against them was a matter of perception alone”.
But a hung Parliament – in which no major party secures enough seats (76) to secure a majority government – is still the most likely result according to election analysts, but Turnbull may only need the support of one or two independents to form a minority government if current trends continue.
“Irrespective of the final election result, the clear mission now is to bring people together for the good of the country”, he wrote on his blog.
“It’s likely in coming days that the Liberals will scrape over the line but the combination of a PM with no authority, a government with no direction and a Liberal Party at war with itself, will see Australians back at the polls within the year”, Shorten told a party gathering in Canberra.
Turnbull’s Liberal Party-led coalition needs at least a 76-seat majority in the House of Representatives where it had controlled 90 seats.
The ABC’s election computer has the Government on 73 seats, Labor 66 and five other seats are in doubt.
“Based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a coalition majority government in the next parliament”, Turnbull said in a speech to cheering supporters early Sunday morning.
Minor parties and independents have emerged in an even more powerful position, making it less likely Turnbull will be able to push his reformist economic agenda.
Turnbull´s ruling Liberal/National coalition is now expected to secure 74 seats, and potentially two more, in the 150-seat House of Representatives, according to national broadcaster ABC´s projections.
Despite protestations to the contrary from Turnbull, Economou maintains that Labor was “justified” in its attack as it harks back to a series of decisions in the 2014 budget of former Liberal Party Prime Minister Tony Abbott, which fostered anxiety about the coalition’s historic hostility towards state healthcare.
The coalition may not need those minor party and independent votes, though. Mail-in and absentee votes that were being counted days after the weekend poll are favouring the conservatives. Uncertainty surrounding the election prompted rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Australia’s coveted AAA credit rating last week from “stable” to “negative”.
The National Party, the junior coalition partner, is demanding a greater say in a future government given its strong electoral performance.
Shorten also said it was time Australia considered ditching its pencil and paper voting system for a speedier electronic version.
Mr Turnbull said he also wanted to investigate the regulation of “robocalls” and text messages sent out by political parties during election campaigns.
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Malcolm Turnbull could claim government by the end of the day as postal votes flow to coalition.
