What a weekend in Australian politics, and how different the political landscape looks now.
With neither party gaining a majortiy, it looks like Australia is going to be headed for a minority government, with one of the big parties having to cut a deal with a number of independents, and perhaps the country's first Greens MP.
Aside from Australia's first hung parliament in 70 years and its first ever female prime minister up for election, there were a number of other notable 'firsts' in this election.
Ed Husic - First Muslim MP
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Ed Husic, the winning Labor candidate for Chifley in Western Sydney, describes himself as
'Blacktown, through and through' on his website.
A union man - he's the National President of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, Ed is the first 'Muslim' ever elected to the lower house.
Husic is the son of Bosnian parents, and describes himself as a 'non-practising' Muslim, but it's perhaps something of a milestone for this multi-cultural country where, in 2010, politics still looks decidedly different to the community as a whole.
Husic spoke of what he said was the vilification he experienced when standing as a candidate in 2004.
Wyatt Roy - youngest ever MP
He's the Justin Bieber of politics, we're told. But whether he can keep his youthful sense of
rebellion in check and keep singing from the same song sheet as his Coalition colleagues is another matter.
Casting his first-ever ballot, the 20-year-old winning Liberal-National candidate in Longman, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, knocked his older opponent -- gaffe-prone Labor opponent Job Sullivan -- clean out of the race.
"I was never the likeliest of candidates but the people took me into their hearts and we ran a
good grassroots campaign," a wisened Roy said after his election.
Just a few years ago he was reportedly at odds with staff at his high school, who, he says,
repeatedly blocked him from becoming a prefect due to the fact they were 'unionist Labor
teachers'.
The 'Greenslide'
Adam Bandt has become the first Greens MP ever elected at a federal election, when he took the seat of Melbourne from Labor - long held by Lindsay Tanner.
"The green vote is on the rise – green values are now mainstream values," Adam Band told the ABC.
But there was also a 3.9 per cent swing to the Greens in the Senate, where they took 12.95 per cent of the vote nationally. This leaves the party with nine senators nationally, the first time it has held the balance of power outright.
11.4 per cent of voters opted for the party in the House of Reps nationwide, and Greens leader Bob Brown said the party had "come of age". It is now the undisputed third major political party in Australia, he said. The Greens also came second in the lower house in Sydney's inner-west Grayndler electorate, and in Batman, Melbourne.
First indigenous MP?
At the time of writing - Monday morning - the WA seat of Hasluck remains on a knife-edge.
Nonetheless, Ken Wyatt was sitting just ahead of the Labor MP Sharryn Jackson, 50.5 per cent to 49.4 per cent, according to the ABC. But it didn't stop Tony Abbott trumping the Liberal Party's inclusive credentials during his speech on Saturday night.
According to the Liberal Party website, Wyatt has 'strong Noongar, Yamatji and Wongi heritage'.
He's reportedly sought guaranteed parliamentary seats for indigenous Australians, and has voiced considerably softer opinions on 'boat people' than party leader Tony Abbott. He's spent a lot of his life working in education, and has held the role of Director of Aboriginal Education and as Director of Aboriginal Health in Western Australian and NSW.
Amongst other roles, Wyatt co-chaired the COAG Indigenous Health Working Group.
