Asked what form of government they would prefer if a hung parliament was the outcome, the Essential poll found 36 per cent backed a Labor minority government with 33 per cent supporting a coalition minority government.
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The coalition still remains short of the 76 seats it needs to claim a majority in the lower house, the House of Representatives.
The Coalition is confident it will win the 76 seats required to form a majority government and could win 77 seats if the counting of postal and absentee votes continues to trend its way.
More than a week after the Federal Election fewer than 500 votes separates the major party contestants in five line-ball seats.
But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss James Pearson says all parts of the 10-year tax plan that would take the company rate to 25 per cent must stay in place.
Turnbull called the election early, hoping to shore up his power after ousting fellow conservative Tony Abbott in a Liberal Party vote in September but the move appears to have backfired.
“We have shown that we can undertake those big-step changes and also introduce quite a bit of technology to support those changes”, Mr Diak said. “The Australian people expect all sides of politics to work in the national interest”.
What could count is the warm relationship New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has with Mr Turnbull, with some commentators saying there could be concessions because of Mr Key’s continued pressure.
“The most important people to thank are the Australian people because we have resolved this election”, Turnbull had said.
The election also put Labor on notice. According to Sheridan, Chinese officials have threatened “economic consequences” if Australia intervenes in the South China Sea.
The looming fight comes despite ratings agency Standard & Poor’s putting the nation on negative watch and warning the government would have to stick to its trajectory of returning the budget to balance by 2020-21.
This story first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.
Shorten’s vow of “common ground” was echoed today by Labor Treasury spokesperson Chris Bowen, who has called for the Coalition to adopt Labor’s “budget repair” policies so it can give them bipartisan support.
The election was one of the closest in 50 years. “We need to ensure that Medicare and education, health services and all those vital government services are provided for and Australians feel secure that they are provided for and guaranteed”, he added during his victory speech.
Earlier in April, Turnbull scheduled early elections for July 2 and ordered the dissolution of Parliament after the upper house rejected a law passed by the lower house for the second time.
Mr Turnbull lost the government’s comfortable majority in the House of Representatives in last Saturday’s election after his campaign on “jobs and growth” and “innovation” failed to resonate equally across the vast island continent.
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And the only way to get new laws through would be to reach a consensus with the Greens and Labor.
