Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative coalition has won enough seats to govern in its own right after a cliffhanger July 2 election, according to Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) projections yesterday.
The incumbent Liberal/National coalition, which declared victory on Sunday after the Labor opposition conceded defeat eight days after national polls, secured 76 seats in the 150-seat lower House of Representatives, according to the ABC, the minimum for a majority.
The opposition Labor party is predicted to win 69, the ABC said.
Photo: EPA
Independents and small parties have secured five seats in the parliament’s lower house and have won key Senate seats.
Counting is continuing in some closely fought contests and a final declaration might take several more days, leaving Turnbull the hard task of uniting a divided parliament in order to pass legislation.
Australian Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne told ABC radio that the coalition had a clear mandate to deliver on its election promises.
“Whether you win a grand final by one goal or six goals, a win is a win is a win,” Pyne said.
Moody’s Investors Service yesterday joined Standard and Poor’s (S&P) in expressing concern that a splintered Senate would stymie agreement on fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic policy.
Moody’s said such a scenario would be “credit negative,” echoing S&P’s decision last week to cut Australia’s credit rating outlook to negative from stable, threatening a downgrade of its coveted “triple A” status.
The make-up of the Senate, where the government requires support for legislative changes, is still unclear.
However, small parties run by the far-right politician Pauline Hanson and centrist Nick Xenophon are on track to win several positions, making them a force in the next parliament.
Some conservative members of the Liberal Party blame their centrist leader for a loss in votes that left them perilously close to conceding power, putting pressure on Turnbull to reverse unpopular policies such as changes to state pensions.
The junior coalition partner, the Nationals, are agitating for an extra seat in Cabinet given they are on track to increase their representation in parliament.
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