Despite the polls favoring Labor, the Coalition has managed to win the Federal Elections. The next step is to determine whether they will be able to form a majority government. Labor’s defeat has caused major changes inside the party, with Bill Shorten stepping down as party leader late last night.
With almost 76% of the votes counted, the Coalition has 73 seats, while Labor has 65. The Greens have one seat, while 5 ended up in the hands of independent MPs or in smaller parties. 7 seats are still to be decided, meaning the difference in votes in very small.
It should be noted, that for a party to be able to form a majority government, it needs 76 seats. If the Coalition is not able to find the last 3 seats it needs, then it will have to form a government with the help of independent MPs.
From the 7 seats that are too close to call, the Coalition has small lead over Labor in Bass, Boothy and Wenworth, while Labor is coming first with a small margin in Lilley, Chisholm, Cowan and Macquarie.
Change of Leadership in Labor
With Bill Shorten stepping down, the position for Labor’s party leader is open. Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has expressed her interest in the position and so did Anthony Albanese.
The Greek Australian Candidates
Labor’s Maria Vamvakinou, and Steve Georganas managed to retain their seats. In the seat of Calwell, Mrs. Vamvakinou has so far gathered 69,3% of the votes, with 33 out of 37 polling centers having finished counting votes.
In the seat of Adelaide, Steve Georganas has gathered 59,1%, of the votes, with 55 out of 66 polling centres having finished counting votes.
Independent Julia Banks tried but failed to wrestle the seat of Flinders from Greg Hunt.
