The likeliest scenarios point to a slim coalition victory or a dreaded hung parliament, which could prompt yet another election.
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In a move to highlight division in the Liberal party and question Turnbull’s ability to deliver stable government, Bill Shorten warned on Tuesday that the prime minister may consider rushing to an early election.
Vote counting for the Senate resumed today but counting for the House of Representatives does not restart until Tuesday.
With Labor and the Liberals in a virtual tie, there is a possibility neither would end up with enough seats to form a majority government, resulting in a hung parliament.
Vote counting is expected to drag on for days, possibly weeks, leaving Australia in a political vacuum.
“There is no doubt that Labor cynically abused the trust of Australians by lying to them about this”, Turnbull said, referring to Labor’s suggestion that the government plans to privatize Medicare.
Labor leader Bill Shorten also called on Turnbull to quit, likening his position to that of British Prime Minister David Cameron after last month’s “Brexit” vote.
“Mr. Turnbull clearly doesn’t know what he is doing”. Frankly I think he should quit. Behind-the-scenes, Washington will undoubtedly try to use its influence to engineer an outcome to ensure Canberra remains a reliable military partner.
“The federal campaign was more centralised in this election, however I stayed very close to my local government roots and ran a very localised campaign focussing on local needs and community engagement”. The most recent was in 2010, when then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ruling Labor Party was forced to secure an alliance with the minor Greens party and three independent lawmakers to form a fragile minority government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is on the lead, but again, by just a small margin ahead of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. He said any changes to the current policy would be “dealt with over the course of any government”.
With about half of the Senate votes counted, the futures of at least three prominent rural-based Senators hang in the balance.
“It’s that period September to May where we abandoned economic leadership and confused the electorate and said we don’t have a plan and we’re essentially making it up as they go along”.
One small party keen to exploit the situation was the controversial far right One Nation party, whose leader Pauline Hanson used the political limbo to push her far-right agenda that first won her worldwide notoriety in 1996, warning that Australia was being “swamped by Asians”.
The controversial former member for Oxley looked nearly certain to gain a Senate spot on Saturday night as counting continued. After years of political turmoil, Australians head to the polls with leaders of the nation’s major parties each promising to bring stability to a government that has always been mired in chaos. The result serves to consolidate the Greens as the party of privileged layers of the middle class in the inner suburbs of the major cities, with little support in the working class.
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If that happens Australians should expect another election in early spring because neither major party would likely take the gamble of relying on five crossbenchers to keep the wheels of government turning. Monash University political analyst Nick Economou said the new Senate could prove more resistant to free trade deals and globalization initiatives after two minor protectionist parties were among the election winners.
