Australian opposition concedes defeat in tight election

Malcolm Turnbull insists he won’t be declaring victory in the election until the counting result is “plain” after Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne declared they had won.

“In that sense, they have won, it’s just simply a matter of whether they have got a majority or not”.

“I remain confident that we will form a government, and we will unite the parliament as far as we are able to”, Turnbull told reporters after meeting Katter.

“We’re taking those lessons to heart very seriously and we respect the votes that have been cast, and one way we show that respect is by waiting for the counting to be completed, or completed to the point where the decision is claimed”, he said.

“Some people sneered at that (but) I thought that was pretty good actually”, Mr Ralph said.

TOP IMAGE: Bill Shorten, Leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party and his wife Chloe Bryce walk by posters featuring incumbent prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull on election day, 2 July.

There were signs that the instability was beginning to take its toll on the Australian economy, with Standard and Poor’s (S&P) cutting Australia’s credit rating outlook to negative from stable, threatening a downgrade of its coveted triple-A status.

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said her party needed to be ready for another election “sooner rather than later”, given the close result and potential for an unstable parliament.

Mr Katter also said he “aggressively” discussed the issue of foreign ownership of Australian land with Mr Turnbull and the pair had reached a “clarification”, but did not divulge the details.

The coalition is likely to hold 76 seats in the 150-seat lower house, as postal votes and recounts of existing votes have favoured Liberal and Nationals candidates over Labor.

Shorten’s admission comes as the Australian Electoral Commission reports the Coalition is leading in 74 seats and with the government getting the pledged support of independents Bob Katter and Cath McGowan – as well as a promise from Andrew Wilkie to not be “destructive” – it seems the Coalition will get enough support to retain office.

Turnbull’s conservative coalition secured 70 seats, opposition Labor 67, with 80 per cent of the vote counted.

For the Liberal Party – the majority side of the coalition – the postmortem will be long and bitter.

“So (Labor) didn’t have to worry about their core leaving them or go across to another political party or even a minor or independents”.

Mr Shorten told a media conference he had called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to assure him he would work with the Coalition to push through reforms where the parties shared common ground.

“We’re even an outside chance still in Hindmarsh and Cowan, so we will form a majority government and we’re also making arrangements with some of the crossbenchers for supply and confidence, so we will have a solid government”, he added.