Federal Election 2016 live coverage day three: Australia in limbo while votes are counted

That's a wrap for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow morning with all the latest updates, interviews and analysis, as the Australian Electoral Commission resumes its count of votes.

Here's what we know now:

• A Fairfax analysis has projected the Coalition has won 70 seats, Labor 67 seats and the Greens one seat, with Independents and Minor parties claiming five. Seven seats are too close to call: Dunkley, Gilmore, Capricornia, Forde, Hindmarsh, Chisholm and Cowan
• Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, says the Liberals have "pulled themselves apart" just two years after laughing at Labor for doing the same
• Anthony Albanese has ruled out an immediate Labor leadership challenge
• Labor leader Bill Shorten has called for Malcolm Turnbull to resign
• One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has claimed her party could snare six senate seats
• Australia's AAA credit rating could be at risk if the new parliament does not wind back the budget deficit

Thanks for your comments, and we'll see you bright and early.

Australian Electoral Commission staff at Blacktown on July 2.Credit: Kate Geraghty

It's almost time to wrap up the blog for the night, as resources minister Josh Frydenberg, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen, editor-at-large of The Australian Paul Kelly and entrepreneur Holly Ransom prepare for another election post-mortem on Q&A.

We understand Duncan Storrar, who became somewhat of a hero in the early days of the election campaign by asking why rich people get tax cuts and poor people don't, was set to make a return to the show tonight with a video question to Paul Kelly, but his appearance was ultimately vetoed by producers.

Kelly's newspaper interviewed Storrar's estranged son after his appearance on Q&A and editorialised on his "resentment" and reliance on taxpayers.

Storrar was rattled by the whole affair, but emerged on the other side by becoming a public advocate for the poor and the voiceless, he recently told Neil McMahon.

Duncan Storrar, who became embroiled in a media storm after asking a question on Q&A.Credit: Justin McManus

Bill Shorten has denied that misleading and possibly fraudulent text messages played a part in Labor's federal election campaign

Speaking on Channel Ten's The Project from their South Yarra studios, Shorten said Labor did "better than expected" in the election but it may not be enough to win.

He then faced a grilling from host Waleed Aly over text messages purporting to be from Medicare, which told people "time is running out" to save it.

"This election result, have you achieved that on the back of fraud?" Aly asked.

"Not at all," Shorten responded. "The campaign, that wasn't part of any national campaign. Queensland Labor did send out a text... I don't know what they sent out."

Aly said there was a "very serious question" about the nature of the campaign, with the text messages referred to police for investigation.

But Shorten said the "issue of substance" in the election was the future of Medicare, which Malcolm Turnbull was "ducking".

"Mr Turnbull has asked for the AFP [federal police] to investigate. We'll see what happens there," he said.

Bill Shorten appears on The Project on Monday night.Credit: Channel Ten

Anthony Albanese has addressed rampant speculation he intends to challenge Bill Shorten for the Labor leadership.

On ABC's 7.30, he repeated his previous assertion that changing the leader now would be like doing so in extra time during a game of football.

But he also said it was impossible for one person to stay Labor leader forever.

"I think the Labor party has been very united, will continue to be so, and we're still in a position whereby we may well form government in the next few weeks," Albanese told Leigh Sales.

"The most likely outcome is a minority position, whether in government or in opposition."

He said he would continue putting Labor's interests ahead of his own.

"No one is leader indefinitely. We're a political party more than 100 years old," he said. "Certainly we will continue forward with Bill Shorten as leader, and I will play a role as part of the team."

Anthony Albanese says no one is leader indefinitely, but he stands behind Bill Shorten.Credit: ABC

Senator Cory Bernardi, the most vocal internal critic of the Coalition's campaign, says the rise of minor party figures like Pauline Hanson reflects a "crisis of confidence" in the major parties.

Speaking to Leigh Sales on ABC's 7.30, Bernardi said the Liberal Party had lost a million voters to conservative candidates because it wasn't standing up for the values and principles on which it was founded, pointing to lower taxes, the size of government, personal freedom, families.

"If we reflect that to the Australian people and we talk about the specific issues that they are concerned about, such as immigration, such as our culture, such as preserving our way of life and making our economy strong, then people will respond to that," the conservative firebrand said.

"And that has been my mission in my public life...to remind the Liberal Party, this is our reason for being and when we start to stray and to dally into fringe issues or issues that the Labor Party want us to get engaged in, we lose our base and we can't afford to lose our base."

But he said that he doesn't want get caught up in personality politics and insider games and would be "absolutely on board" with a Coalition government led by Malcolm Turnbull if it's standing up for the right things.

On the lessons the Prime Minister needs to learn from the disappointing election result, he said "people are always capable of learning lessons and I hope that we're going to heed those".

Cory Bernardi speaks to 7.30.Credit: ABC

Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, says it took two years for the Liberal Party to pull itself apart through infighting after laughing at Labor for doing the same.

Speaking to Andrew Bolt on Sky News, Credlin – now a political commentator – reflected on the "hapless group of bedwetters" who booted Abbott from office.

"I think the result on Saturday night reflects where the Liberal party is at," Credlin said.

"That wonderful victory they had in September 2013 when they had the faith and the trust of the Australian people behind them, has been squandered in a term of infighting.

"We watched Labor do that to themselves. We all laughed and guffawed and manufactured opportunity out of that. We swore it would never happen to us, and it took two years for us to pull ourselves apart.

"Mainstream parties wonder why people are leaving them in droves. This is why."

Peta Credlin is the former chief of staff to Tony Abbott.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Malcolm Turnbull's fiercest critic, columnist and TV host Andrew Bolt, was just up on Sky hosting his latest episode of "Malcolm Turnbull must go: Bring back Tony Abbott".

"There is almost no hope of winning an election without him," he said of Mr Abbott.

"No one else can heal the liberal party that Malcolm Turnbull has just so stupidly torn apart."

He said conservative MPs think Turnbull – who is "so left-wing" and has such "terrible judgement" – is doomed and they are scared of what he would offer a crossbench for their support.

He predicted this Parliament will be the worst we've seen in recent times and the "Senate is the place this government will die".

There's never been a more exciting time to be a satirical impersonator of Pauline Hanson.

Simon Hunt, better known as Pauline Pantsdown, says he is considering a comeback after Hanson's seeming political resurrection.

Hunt, a media lecturer at the University of New South Wales, penned hit song I Don't Like It when Hanson was last in power in 1998.

He has been urged urged to make a comeback, but says Hanson is no longer a uniquely racist voice.

"It was always about the outright racism, but she's not really as unique now in that way anymore," he told Beau Donelly. "She's jumped into a government where she's actually probably seen as more acceptable."

Read the full story here.

Simon Hunt as his satirical creation Pauline Pantsdown.Credit: Dean Sewell

All eyes will be on the ABC tonight with Cory Bernardi and Anthony Albanese making an appearance on 7.30 for what's sure to be a forensic interview with Leigh Sales.

Albo will have the chance to properly address the whispers surrounding the Labor leadership, which persist despite a surprisingly strong election result bolstering Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

Maverick conservative senator Cory Bernardi is also sure to make his feelings known, after he earlier branded the election result a "disaster".

Dissatisfaction with major parties, the end of the mining boom and a lacklustre federal election campaign all came together in a "perfect storm" to bring Pauline Hanson back to the political fold, political pundits have theorised.

Speaking to David Wroe, Griffith University lecturer Paul Williams said Ms Hanson "tried to reform her image and move it away from race" this election.

"Most of her vote comes from people who just think mainstream politicians are all a bunch of crooks and aren't listening, and Hanson is 'one of us'," Dr Williams said.

Meanwhile, Fairfax writer Tony Wright theorises Hanson's rise is due to her "cynical misuse of nostalgia in the cause of hateful bigotry".

"While she professes to speak for middle Australia, Pauline Hanson speaks for a mythic Australia," Wright says.

Pauline Hanson speaks in Brisbane on Monday.Credit: AAP