Coalition claws back support in undecided seats

WITH four of the seven tightest races in Sunshine State electorates, Malcolm Turnbull knows much of his fate is in Queensland hands, but Opposition leader Bill Shorten still isn’t convinced.

MALCOLM Turnbull is edging towards being able to form government with a slim majority as the Coalition claws back support in undecided seats.

Coalition scrutineers were last night confident of claiming at least 73 seats and were increasingly upbeat about reaching the 76 needed to form a majority on the floor of Parliament.

Queensland seats will be crucial if the Coalition is to get over the line, with four of the seven tightest races in Sunshine State electorates.

The Liberal National Party is steadily cutting into Labor’s lead in the Queensland seats of Forde, Flynn, Herbert and Capricornia and could hold all of these seats.

After two days of postal vote counting, the LNP’s Bert van Manen pulled ahead of Labor’s Des Hardman for the first time in the outer Brisbane seat of Forde and was last night sitting on a lead of 137 votes.

About 64 per cent of postal votes in Flynn are going towards the LNP’s Ken O’Dowd, which is above the 61 per cent rate he needs to hold the seat.

Both parties think the LNP is likely to hold Flynn ­despite Labor’s Zac Beers being last night 1065 votes ahead of Mr O’Dowd.

But the neighbouring central Queensland electorate of Capricornia is still on a knife edge with about 56 per cent of postal votes going to the LNP’s Michelle Landry. She needs 55 per cent of the postal votes.

Labor is still ahead in the Townsville seat of Herbert, but the LNP is eating into the margin and was last night 620 votes behind.

In other states, Labor looks increasingly likely to claim the Western Australian seat of Cowan but the Liberals appear likely to hold Gilmore, in NSW. The South Australian seat of Hindmarsh was too close to call with Labor last night ahead by just 151 votes.

In Victoria, the Coalition has secured its hold on Dunkley and is likely to win Chisholm from Labor.

Mr Turnbull said the vote count was going “very well” but he continued to hold talks with key independents whose support he might need in both houses of parliament. He met with Nick Xenophon yesterday and had spoken with him every day since the election.

Bill Shorten, meanwhile, warned the PM he would struggle to pass his agenda even if he secured a majority.

“If he scrapes home with a one-seat majority, let’s see how he goes governing,” Mr Shorten said. “The problem is he has a mandate for absolutely nothing.”

Mr Turnbull has left open the prospect of increased spending on health after saying he needed to win back ­voters’ trust. He could also shelve his planned company tax cuts and instead pass small business cuts that were backed by Labor.

Meanwhile, it can be revealed Parliament will be asked to investigate why it has taken the Australian Electoral Commission so long to determine the outcome of the election.

The Courier-Mail can reveal a joint standing committee, which conducts a review into the AEC’s role at every election, will be told to find out why the counting of crucial postal votes has been delayed.

It is understood senior figures from both major parties are furious about the sluggish approach the AEC has taken given the future of the nation hinges on the outcome.