The outcome of Australia’s federal election hangs in the balance with the result possibly not known until later in the week after a significant swing against the Government has raised the possibility of a hung parliament.
Despite that, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said early on Sunday morning that, based on advice he had received from party officials, “we have every confidence that we will form a Coalition majority government in the next parliament”.
He said the Liberal-National Coalition contained the only parties capable of doing so.
The ABC predicted that both the Coalition and the Australian Labor Party were on track to win 67 seats but said that as of Sunday morning, almost a dozen seats were still too close to call. The Coalition, which won 90 seats in the House of Representatives at the last election, needs 76 seats to stay in power in its own right; otherwise it will have to negotiate with independents and minor parties.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, meanwhile, said the result showed the “Labor Party is back” and that the Liberals had “lost their mandate”.
“Whatever happens next week, Mr Turnbull will never be able to say that the people of Australia have adopted his ideological agenda.”
