The Australian Electoral Commission put the coalition ahead in 72 seats, Labor in 70 and the minor parties and independents were leading in five seats. Chief analyst Antony Green said a coalition majority government remained a possibility and that Labor would win fewer seats. “The Australian people have voted, and we respect the result”, he said on Tuesday afternoon.
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Ex-media personality and Seven Network broadcaster Derryn Hinch has taken to Twitter to claim a crossbench seat, saying: “We’ve called it we are in”.
The result means that both of the major parties will require the support of key independents to form even a minority government and will still have to deal with a hostile upper house.
With about a quarter of the votes left to be counted, neither Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party-led coalition nor the centre-left Labor Party had secured the required 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government. Behind that lack of commitment is the tendency of both the public and their politicians to focus more sharply on short-term rather long-term results.
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.
Turnbull said on Sunday he remained “quietly confident” of returning his coalition, which retains government in a caretaker mode until a victor is declared, to power for another three-year term.
Turnbull had campaigned on tough asylum-seeker policies and a plan to hold a plebiscite on gay marriage, but mostly on reinforcing his economic credentials as the country transitions from a mining investment boom to a more diversified economy.
The government and the opposition Labour Party are now each short of the 76 seats needed to govern, and with the vote count ongoing, there is the prospect of a hung parliament.
Bloomberg News reported that, largely as a result of a vexing budget gap successive Australian governments have been struggling with since the 2008 financial crisis, the election result threatens to undermine the nation’s top credit rating.
“I still think the Liberal-led coalition will be able to form a majority government with a very small margin”, Jaspan said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Liberal party leaders are backing Mr. Turnbull, following suggestions his predecessor Tony Abbott could make a comeback as party leader.
Labor is forecast to win at least 67 seats, with crossbenchers from minor parties and independents expected to hold at least 5, meaning they could hold the balance of power.
That volatility is the new norm in modern politics, with many voters unwilling to commit to either major party, said Rodney Smith, professor of Australian politics at the University of Sydney.
“He wanted a mandate for stability and he’s given us instability”, Shorten said.
‘In the past, I could run around and kiss babies and mouth party platitudes and expect to get re-elected, ‘ Mr. Katter said in a telephone interview on Monday.
He added, “He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability”.
Turnbull said on Sunday he remained “quietly confident” of returning his coalition to power for another three-year term.
Counting of 1.5 million postal and absentee votes critical in Australia’s cliffhanger election began on Tuesday as loyalists of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull defended their embattled leader against calls for his resignation.
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Australian opposite leader Bill Shorten is calling on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the two are deadlocked after Saturday’s national election.
