Australia faces possible hung Parliament after tight voting

Australia may have a hung parliament after voters swung away from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Coalition in a closely contested general election, which may force him to seek help from Independents and minor parties, who have emerged as kingmakers, to stay in power.
The people cast ballots yesterday to decide the fate of over 1,600 candidates, including five of Indian-origin, contesting fromover 55 political parities.
Voters dumped more than 10 Coalition MPs with the government suffering a 2.8 per cent swing against it.
Twelve out of 150 lower house seats remain in doubt, with counting of pre-poll, postal and absentee votes to resume on Tuesday.

The official Australian Electoral Commission tally has Labor on 71 seats and the ruling Liberal-National coalition on 67 seats. Independents and minor parties gained an unprecedented share of the vote.
The future Australian government wouldbe resolved by the 11 seats which remain in doubt. Of these, Labor was ahead in six.

The polls will elect all 226 members including 150 members for the lower houseof the 45th parliament after an eight-week official campaign period following thedouble dissolution announced by Turnbull in April.
If the Coalition finishes with fewer than 76 seats, it would need to negotiate with independents and minor parties to stay in power, ABC reported.

Turnbull, 61, was seeking out to crossbenchers and reports said that at least oneIndependent candidate, Bob Katter, was looking at negotiations.
The Coalition would likely talk with Nick Xenophon's new MP Rebekha Sharkie and Victorian rural independent Cathy McGowan to secure its position.
Turnbull also expressed confidence thatthe Coalition couldform majority government despiteresults still unclear.
"Based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a coalition majority government in the next parliament," he said.
Turnbull conceded it was a "very, very close count" with 30 per cent of votes yet to be counted.

Media reports said that there were reports ofLabor Party'sBill Shorten likelyto face a leadership contest against Anthony Albanese.
Albanese has the support of powerbrokers from Labor's left and right factions to take the leadership. Albanese has not denied a move for a contest, telling colleagues Labor's focus should be on forming government.
AEC spokesman Phil Diak said"[There's a] very strong pattern there that it does take around a month to complete all the counting for the House and Senate," he said, adding AEC won't declare seats until there's a mathematical impossibility of the leader being overtaken, as it were, in any seat.

"So that's often a lot later than when victory is claimed or a seat is conceded," Diak said.