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Australia's incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten have on Monday entered talks with independent MPs in an attempt to form a minority government, as it looks increasingly unlikely either major party will win enough seats to secure a majority.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says it could take up to a month to determine the final results from all electorates, while a clear result to determine a government might not be known until at least Wednesday.
As it stands, both major parties could form a minority government, in which they must secure support of independents to gain the 76 seat majority required to govern, members from both parties remain confident they can win the election.
Liberal Senator and Turnbull confidant Arthur Sinodinis said the Prime Minister would be entering dialogue with a number of crossbench MPs in an attempt to form a government. He said it was important for all parties to enter mature discussions in such a complicated situation.
"We on all sides have to work with the parliament the Australian people have delivered," Sinodinis said on Monday.
"So that means we have to have a dialogue. The Prime Minister has started by talking to the crossbenchers. I note Mr Shorten is doing the same thing."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was buoyed by the latest figures which suggest Labor had secured at least one more seat than the coalition, however both major parties were still short of the 76 seat majority required to govern.
"If we get enough seats we certainly can (form government). We are determined to stick to our word," Shorten told the press on Monday.
"We've got the best platform of any of the parties to form a 45th Parliament."
However political analysts are not as confident. Revered political commentator Dennis Shanahan from News Corp has said Australia is set to be "virtually ungovernable for the next three years" thanks to the close result, while a second election within 12 months "can't be ruled out".
Leading analyst Barrie Cassidy said the Prime Minister "blew it" when he disgruntled the far-right members of his party last year, and said it would be a "remarkable result" if the coalition were to form government from this point.
"I can't see that happening. We are well and truly in hung Parliament territory," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.
Independent MPs who secured election over the weekend have also weighed in on the debate. Andrew Wilkie said both major parties were now aware their current policies were not cutting it for Australian voters.
"For a start, (they) will need to go back to the drawing board and rewrite a whole lot of their policy positions and rewrite their budget," he said on Monday
Fellow Independent Cathy McGowan said she wouldn't be brokering a deal with either the coalition or Labor, while Wilkie, formerly a Greens candidate, would not enter "an agreement" with the major parties to form a minority government.
"Neither the Labor Party nor the Liberal Party have a God-given right to rule," Wilkie said.
Conservative analysts have rued what was expected to be an easy victory for the coalition this election, with the nation's pre-eminent far-right commentator Andrew Bolt even calling for Turnbull's resignation in a petition published to News Corp websites on Monday.
Labor, too, had its chances according to the commentators. In Victoria, the Labor Premier Daniel Andrews was accused of trying to rip apart the volunteer-led Country Fire Authority.
The Prime Minister highlighted this in his campaign and promised to protect tens of thousands of volunteers, something which likely cost the opposition crucial votes in swing Victorian and national seats.
Voting ceased at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday following the election, and will not resume until Tuesday, when the deadline for postal votes expires. The coalition has maintained it expects strong results from postal votes, particularly in marginal seats in Queensland.
（APD）
