The result of Saturdays election hangs in the balance with neither side being able to claim a majority, with a handfull of seats still on a knife edge.
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“Mr. Turnbull tried to capitalize on the Brexit vote and say because of what happened in England that you had to vote for him in Australia”, Shorten said.
Speaking today with Nationals leader and deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, Turnbull said “there is no doubt that there is a level of disillusionment with politics, with government, and with the major parties” among voters.
Mr Turnbull said he remained confident he could get the seats necessary to form a majority government.
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. It was hard for modern governments to make tough and unpopular decisions as tax revenues decline with the slowing Chinese economy and low commodity prices.
A spokesman for the Australian Electoral Commission told CNN vote counting began again on Tuesday, after concluding late on Saturday night, with at least a million postal votes still to be counted. Before that, the last hung parliament was in 1940.
Australia’s prime minister and opposition leader are trying to drum up support from minor parties in a desperate bid to form a working government after a tight election failed to deliver an immediate victor.
Crossbench and independent MPs could prove kingmakers in that scenario, and the Prime Minister confirmed he had opened lines of communication with them.
“We are committed to ensuring that the parliament, as elected, will work effectively and constructively for the Australian people”, Turnbull said.
“What I’m very sure of is that whilst we don’t know who the victor was, there’s clearly one loser: Malcolm Turnbull’s agenda for Australia and his efforts to cut Medicare”, Shorten said, referring to Australia’s universal health care system.
The uncertainty is troublesome, with Turnbull acknowledging he was anxious that any perception of instability while the vote was sorted out could harm Australia’s triple-A credit rating.
Mr Shannahan said the Liberal Coalition may keep Mr Turnbull on as leader in the short term, to avoid further instability.
“Australians seek greater certainty, greater clarity, stability in their government”, Turnbull told reporters on Sunday in Sydney. 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.
Minor parties have increased their numbers in the Senate.
An expert on Australian politics, Dr Nick Economou of Monash University, said Mr Turnbull had failed to set a clear economic plan that connected with voters in marginal seats. Eight seats are still in doubt, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Xenophon had been his party’s lone senator for South Australia state.
As for support for small businesses among the independents, Strong has faith that both Bob Katter and Cathy McGowan will vote for SME owners’ rights.
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Not only do they appear to be going into minority government – if that – the Coalition will be facing a mélange of Greens and populist cross-benchers in the Senate, including the xenophobe who dogged John Howard in the 1990s, Pauline Hanson.
