Vote counting is scheduled to resume on Monday in a dramatic Australian federal election that failed to produce a clear victor on the weekend, raising the prospect of prolonged political and economic instability.
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Australia’s opposition leader today called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign, dubbing him “the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere” after an inconclusive election plunged the country into political turmoil.
For New Zealand, nothing much will change when the result of the Australian election is finally known.
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.
“I am very confident, very confident indeed that we will form. a majority government in our own right, but I am, of course, talking to the crossbenchers as well”, Turnbull told reporters in Katter’s home state of Queensland, referring to the independent and minor party lawmakers who could hold the balance of power in a divided parliament.
Vote counting is now focused on the 1.5 million postal and absentee votes and the process could still drag on for days, or even weeks.
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.
“The end result will be poor prospects for getting government spending and the budget deficit under control over the next three years and for the coalition implementing its policy to cut corporate taxes let alone undertaking serious productivity enhancing economic reforms”.
Infamous for her claim in her maiden speech in 1996 that Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Asians”, she said during this campaign that “we’re in danger of being swamped by Muslims”.
Echoing the speech Mr Turnbull gave when he lost the republic referendum in 1999, Ms Credlin said; “Malcolm Turnbull, you’re the man who broke the Liberal Party’s heart”. He said the election had not had “an outcome that we wanted but it’s not the end of the world”.
Jaspan said the election results, whether the Liberals win or not, is “disastrous for Turnbull”, who had a 19-seat advantage when he went to the election.
“The surest way to lose the next election is for us to commence the new parliament with an entrenched culture of infighting”, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
However, both ticked up after Moody’s Investors Service said short-lived political uncertainty would have limited implications for Australia’s coveted triple-A credit rating. His future lies in the hands of not only special votes, but also the whims of the independent MPs elected over the weekend – mainly in a round of protest votes by Australians sick of elections and politicians not keeping their word. “People were exhausted of the antics of the Labor party, of their infighting, backstabbing and disunity”, Melbourne-based political analyst Andrew Jaspan said.
People at a reception for Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull watch opposition leader Bill Shorten speaking on a television screen on election night in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, July 3, 2016.
Mr Shannahan said the Liberal Coalition may keep Mr Turnbull on as leader in the short term, to avoid further instability.
“The Australian people have voted, and we respect the result”.
A second independent, Cathy McGowan, also said she did not intend to decide which side to support until the votes were counted and parliament resumed.
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Mr Dutton, who some, but not all, conservatives want to make a run for the deputy leadership and replace Julie Bishop, said all that mattered at the moment was forming government.
