The prime minister met with Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson in Canberra on Monday, a day after Labor leader Bill Shorten conceded defeat in the federal election.
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FILE – In this July 1, 2016, file photo, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull smile while greeting people during a walk through of a shopping street in Burwood, Sydney.
The tight election defied Mr. Turnbull’s call for stability in the aftermath of last month’s Brexit vote, which sent shockwaves throughout the globe.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces a tough challenge implementing his 10-year plan to reduce the company tax rate given the expanded Senate crossbench, but the chamber’s boss James Pearson has been lobbying politicians to avoid another three years of gridlock.
As counting continues, three contests remain close – Hindmarsh, Capricornia and Herbert – but the coalition is confident of having 76 seats in the 150-seat lower house.
He said Shorten called him to admit defeat and congratulate him on being re-elected. Founded in 1846, AP has covered all the major news events of the past 165 years, providing high-quality, informed reporting of everything from wars and elections to championship games and royal weddings.
The election was not, however, entirely resolved.
“It is clear that Mr Turnbull and his coalition will form a government”, Shorten said in a news conference in Melbourne.
“We’re a grown-up democracy, it shouldn’t take eight days to find out who’s won”, Shorten said.
There are two possibilities: Either the coalition will form a majority government by a slim margin, or the country will have a hung Parliament.
The need for Mr Turnbull to court the support of those outside his party led him to stress that he valued every parliamentarian’s contribution, even though he had earlier warned Australians not to vote for minor parties and independents during the election campaign.
The coalition entered the race with a comfortable majority of 90 seats, and few had predicted it would suffer such steep losses.
Then there’s the issue of the fragmented Senate.
However, a patchwork Senate with minor party and independent members holding the balance of power is likely to frustrate his efforts to get laws passed without deals.
The turbulence has already caused other problems. Uncertainty surrounding the election prompted rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Australia’s coveted AAA credit rating on Thursday from “stable” to “negative”.
Labor vowed not to unduly disrupt the new parliament, although it and several independents oppose much of the coalition’s jobs and growth agenda, from how to return to budget surplus to a proposal for a A$50-billion ($38 billion) corporate tax break.
Labor is now on 66 seats, with five still in doubt. “I hope they run a good government”.
“It is vital that this parliament works; it is vital that we work together and, as far as we can, find ways upon which we can all agree”, Turnbull added.
When Mr Turnbull emerged a short time later to claim victory he agreed electronic voting was something “we must look at”.
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“Everything we do is about the future”, Turnbull said. “We can’t afford to have our nation drift for eight days after an election”.
