Chaos, uncertainty after Australia federal election

By Jill Fraser

MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) - Australians awoke Sunday morning to the news that their previous day's votes had delivered a knife-edge result, several days of political limbo, an unworkable parliament and the prospect that the prime minister’s head will roll.

With around three quarters of the votes counted, the country faces the prospect of a hung parliament -- no party winning enough seats to have a majority, or a narrow victory for the coalition, which currently holds government.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addressed the nation, and announced what political diehards who were still awake had already deduced, that the result of the federal election was too close to call.

At 5.00 p.m. Sunday (0700GMT), the Liberal Party leader's coalition was on 65 and Labor on 67. A win requires 76 seats in the lower house.

In a speech, slammed “pathetic”, “insulting” and “angry” by media commentators, Turnbull insisted he was confident the coalition could form a majority government; he failed to commiserate with colleagues who had lost their seats, and (disregarding the crushing swing against him) lashed out at the opposition leader’s “extraordinary act of dishonesty”.

Turnbull was referring to Labor leader Bill Shorten’s warning to voters that the coalition would privatise the nation’s health system, Medicare.

"The reason the result was not clear last night was that around a third of Australians voted in pre-polling or via a postal vote," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

Postal and pre-poll votes generally favor the coalition because older voters tend to pre-poll and skew towards the conservatives.

A record number of seats fell to independents and minor parties, who are likely to be kingmakers because if the coalition finishes with fewer than 76 seats it would need to negotiate with independents and minor parties to stay in power.

Many political analysts immediately ruled out Labor’s chance of winning enough seats to form even a minority government, but a senior adviser to former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard -- a director of the University of Melbourne’s Election Watch -- told Anadolu Agency not to write Labor off so quickly.

“It’s still too close to call... The most likely result is that the coalition will just get their nose in front by a single seat. But the bottom line is, we don’t know who the winner is," Nicholas Reece said in a phone interview.

“We do however know who the loser is, and that’s Malcolm Turnbull. His leadership has been mortally wounded by the election result.”

Last September, Turnbull unseated his incumbent prime minister, Tony Abbott, citing unfavourable polls. Less than a year on he has led his party to a disastrous election result and taken what was a substantial majority and reduced it to what looks as if it will be a hung parliament.

His judgement is also being brought into question for calling a double dissolution election -- the dissolving of both houses of parliament -- and the fact that the bill that triggered the double dissolution, and the reason for the election, now doesn’t stand a chance of getting through due to the increased number of independents in parliament.

Key supporters of Abbott are already calling for Turnbull’s resignation.

“The Liberal Party is already deeply divided following last years challenge,” Reece said. “It will now be riddled with internal ructions and instability. Put all that together and I can’t see Turnbull lasting until Christmas as leader [and prime minister].”

Labor heavyweights are also blaming Turnbull for the resurrection of anti-Muslim campaigner Pauline Hanson, who has been returned to the Senate after 18 years in the political wilderness.

A double dissolution produces a full senate election, which nearly halves the quota required for a senator to be elected. This lower quota makes it easier for minor parties and independents to win election.

Hanson’s far-right One Nation party is tipped to pick up a second seat in NSW. First up on her agenda is to push for a royal commission into climate science and Islam.

“Australia faces a very uncertain period because the Australian people have spoken but we haven’t worked out what they’ve said yet,” Reece underlined.