Govt can't win majority in Australian election - TV stations
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[May 21, 2022] By
Byron Kaye and Renju Jose
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's ruling
conservative coalition cannot win enough seats to form a government, two
television stations projected on Saturday, after the government lost
ground to climate-focussed independents and smaller parties.
The struggles of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal-National
coalition, and to a lesser extent the opposition Labor Party led by
Anthony Albanese, raised the prospect of a hung parliament and period of
uncertainty while a record number of postal votes are counted.
"At the moment, I can't see the coalition getting to a majority on these
numbers," the Australian Broadcasting Corp's election analyst Antony
Green said in a live broadcast.
Sky News projected the ruling coalition "can't win majority".
Centre-left Labor had held a decent lead in opinion polls after nine
years in opposition, although recent surveys showed the Liberal-National
government narrowing the gap in the final stretch of a six-week
campaign.
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A Newspoll survey by The Australian newspaper out on election day showed
Labor's lead over the ruling coalition dipping a point to 53-47 on a
two-party-preferred basis, where votes for unsuccessful candidates are
redistributed to the top two contenders.
But growing dissatisfaction over policies, candidate selection and
integrity saw voters turn away from both major parties.
TURNING TEAL
In several affluent Liberal-held seats, so-called "teal independents"
campaigning for action on climate change after some of the worst floods
and fires to hit Australia, looked likely to win.
Three volunteers working for teal independent Monique Ryan, who is
running against Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the long-held Liberal seat
of Kooyong in Melbourne, said they joined Ryan's campaign because they
are concerned about the climate for the sake of their children and
grandchildren.
"For me, it's like this election actually feels hopeful," Charlotte
Forwood, a working mother of three adult children, told Reuters.
With 82% of polling booths counted, Ryan was projected to win 53% of the
two-party preferred vote.
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![](../images/052122pics/news_x49.jpg)
Voters cast their ballots on the morning of the national election at
a Bondi Beach polling station in Sydney, Australia, May 21, 2022.
REUTERS/Loren Elliott
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Early returns suggested the Greens had also made
ground, especially in some urban centres, while billionaire Clive
Palmer's United Australia Party and Pauline Hanson's right-wing One
Nation also looked to have gained votes at the expense of both major
parties.
Greens leader Adam Bandt, who retained his inner city Melbourne
seat, said climate was a major issue for voters.
"There was an attempt from Labor and Liberal to bury it, and we were
very clear about the need to tackle climate by tackling coal and
gas."
Morrison and Albanese earlier cast their votes in Sydney after
making whistle-stop tours across marginal seats in the final two
days of a campaign dominated by rising living costs, climate change
and integrity.
As Labor focussed on spiking inflation and sluggish wage growth,
Morrison made the country's lowest unemployment in almost half a
century the centrepiece of his campaign's final hours.
In the outgoing parliament, the Liberal-National coalition held 76
of the 151 lower house seats, while Labor held 68, with seven minor
party and independent members.
Voting is compulsory and more than half of votes had been cast by
Friday evening, with a record 8 million early in-person and postal
votes, the Australian Electoral Commission said.
The commission has cautioned that a clear winner might not
immediately emerge if it is a close contest, due to the time
required to count about 3 million postal votes.
(Reporting by Renju Jose, John Mair and Byron Kaye in Sydney and
Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by
Richard Pullin, William Mallard and Ros Russell)
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