Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, declared victory for the Liberal-National coalition on Sunday, eight days after a knife-edge election, and issued a plea for bipartisan support to make the new parliament work.
The coalition is on track to win at least 74 seats in the House of Representatives, just two shy of a majority, and is confident of picking up at least two of the five seats, where counting is continuing. In addition, three of the five elected independent MPs have indicated to Mr Turnbull that they will offer their conditional support to his government.
“The caretaker period is over now, the opposition leader has conceded?.?.?.?We have won the election,” Mr Turnbull said.