Oz PM on brink of victory, keeps off celebrations

Pollsters said a long-delayed victory, albeit a very tight one, was virtually in the bag but the man himself was more circumspect, declining to declare the win until final seats were counted. Turnbull’s gamble in calling an election, ostensibly to clear the Senate of what he saw as obstructive minor parties, backfired badly with a swing to the centre-left Labor opposition and a rise in the popularity of minor parties and independents. 

The minority government that Turnbull is now expected to lead will no longer have a clear mandate for his centre-right Liberal-National coalition’s jobs and growth agenda, including a return to budget surplus and a $37.6 billion corporate tax break. 

“Australians have voted, we respect their decision, there are many lessons in that election for all of us,” Turnbull told reporters in Melbourne, reprimanding his industry minister, Christopher Pyne, who appeared to celebrate prematurely when he described the coalition as an “election-winning machine.”