Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he accepts responsibility for the government’s mediocre performance, with more than 20 coalition MPs losing their seats at the poll.
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That point was rammed home by Labor leader Bill Shorten, who acknowledged the coalition would most likely win, but “with a diminished authority, diminished mandate and a very divided political party”.
“We respect the votes that have been cast…”
The returning MP sat down with the prime minister in Melbourne on Friday, for what she described as a rich discussion.
“It is vital that we work together and as far as we can ensure that we all agree… consistent with our policies that we took to the election”.
Nick Xenophon, leader of the Nick Xenophon Team minor party, would not say on Sunday which side his party’s sole lawmaker in the House of Representatives might support in a hung parliament.
Despite the uncertainty, Green said he expected a final election result to be known before the weekend.
“I think he’ll be a great prime minister should he get over the line as I hope we will”, Bishop said.
“This has been a passion of mine, an interest of mine, for a long time”.
‘In such a climate, it’s easy for the extremists, for the people with the simple solutions to emerge and thrive, to foster division, to blame minorities, to demonise difference, to appeal to the dark angels of our national character, ‘ he said.
As of the latest count, the ruling Coalition had 73 seats in the lower house, needing three more to form a majority government.
However, to secure his hold on the next government, Turnbull has already begun negotiations with other players.
Party insiders say Liberal candidates are expecting to pick up either four or five of the remaining seats, which would push Turnbull past the 76-seat majority required to form government.
If Turnbull can’t, then Shorten will be given a chance to form a minority government.
Counting of votes from Saturday’s election dragged on into a sixth day, with a rubber stamping of Turnbull’s government expected to be still a few days away, but the likelihood of a minority government and an obstructive Senate has already set off alarm bells.
He also believes it is likely to win Herbert, Capricornia and Flynn – where the ALP are all in front, but by margins of less than 700 votes.
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The 61-year-old millionaire former banker, who called the election early in a bid to shore up his power, has dismissed the idea of quitting, saying his job was to “get on and govern”. The ALP’s Steve Georganas, who held the seat of Hindmarsh between 2004 and 2013, is now ahead of the Liberal incumbent, Matt Williams, by 247 votes with 4,535 votes to count. As of Wednesday afternoon, Labor was polling 50.17 per cent of the vote – 5,078,065 – to the Coalitions 49.83 per cent – or 5,043,904 votes. “The Labor Party is back”, he said in a speech to supporters.
