Australian ruling coalition wins slim majority: report

MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) – Australia’s conservative ruling coalition has won a slim majority following doubts about whether it would retain power after a tight July 2 election, according to a local media report.

News broadcaster ABC reported Monday that the coalition secured 76 seats -- a one-seat majority in the lower house -- after winning the Flynn and Capricornia divisions of Queensland state.

On Sunday, the opposition had conceded and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull claimed victory.

Lawmaker Ken O'Dowd, who the ABC projected would retain his seat in Flynn, however, preferred to hold off declaring victory.

"It's been up and down. I went to bed on Saturday night thinking I'd won by 2.5 percent. I woke up on Sunday night [and] I was down 2 percent," he was quoted as saying Monday.

"So, I want to be really sure of it before I make any bold statements like saying I've won."

Vote counting continues for three tightly contested seats, with the opposition Labor party predicted to win two of them while the other -- Herbert in north Queensland -- is deemed too close to call.

In the 2013 election, the coalition had 90 seats in the 150-seat and Labor had 55.