Australian electorate decided by just 37 votes month after federal election

Australia's federal election has come to a close 31 days after Australian's headed the polls, after it was revealed the knife's edge seat of Herbert had been won by Labor candidate Cathy O'Toole by just 37 votes.

The incumbent coalition government had previously predicted it would win the Queensland seat, however the result means the government now holds just the slimmest majority in the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's party won 76 of the 150 seats at the election, however they will have just 75 votes when it comes to voting to pass legislation, as the PM must appoint a speaker from within its party room.

Independent MP Bob Katter told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that getting legislation through the house would have to rely on the crossbenchers, and that government "can't function" with just 75 votes.

"(Turnbull) knows he can't possibly run government with one vote up his sleeve," Katter said on Monday.

"I mean nobody can go to the bathroom, no one can go to granny' s funeral, there are members of the government who have to go overseas, well no one can go overseas.

"I mean a government can't function properly with one vote up its sleeve. And you need the good grace of the people in between."

Katter said the coalition should look to the previous Labor government which also did not have a majority in the lower House. He said Labor managed to pass "every single" bill thanks to "convincing" the crossbenchers.

"Now the ALP did not have the majority (in the hung parliament) yet they got every single piece of legislation though that they put up. They did that by convincing the people in the middle," Katter told the ABC.

In a statement, the Liberal-National Party (LNP) coalition said it would decide its "next course of action" over the coming days, to determine whether or not it would challenge the result and demand a recount in Herbert

Following the result in Herbert, the coalition now holds 76 seats, Labor has 69, while five seats went the way of minor parties and independents.

（APD）