Federal election 2019: Scott Morrison delivers miracle win, Bill Shorten quits as Labor leader
The Prime Minister dedicates an election stunner to his parents, family and “an amazing country”.
- Morrison hails miracle win
- Shorten concedes, quits leadership
- Dutton back with a swing
- Howard lauds ‘incredible’ campaign
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s coverage of election day 2019. Scott Morrison is set to form government after a stunning election win.
Morrison delivers a political miracle
Scott Morrison has declared “I have always believed in miracles’’ as he pulled off one of the biggest electoral recoveries in modern history and retained government for the Coalition after emphatic swings to the government in Queensland and Tasmania dashed Bill Shorten’s hopes of becoming Prime Minister and forced his resignation as Labor leader, Sid Maher writes.
With 59.2 per cent of the vote counted, the Coalition appeared to have won 74 seats to Labor’s 66 seats but had a path to a majority government as it held leads in three seats that remained too close to call. The government needs 76 seats to have a majority in its own right in the 151 seat House of Representatives.
Independents and the Greens had won six seats and five seats remained in doubt. Read more here
How election night unfolded:
Joe Kelly 12.18am: Campaign tactics hailed
Mr Morrison said that the Liberal Party political strategists had discovered a “new way for us to campaign.”
“This has set an entirely new benchmark Hirsty,” Mr Morrison said. He also thanked his parents Marion and John as well as his brother Alan.
“To my beautiful miracle girls Abbey and Lily, and to the woman I fell in love with in my teens and it’s never let up, and now Australia has fallen in love with her - Jenny Morrison.”
Mr Morrison said he would continue to keep the economy strong and keep Australians safe and secure. “We are an amazing country of amazing people. God bless Australia.”
Joe Kelly 12.12am: Leader hails support staff
Mr Morrison thanked the Liberal state premiers, former Liberal prime minister John Howard and his leadership team including Nationals Leader, Michael McCormack.
He also thanked Deputy Liberal Leader and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. “Well done down there in Melbourne Josh. You’ve held the whole team together,” he said. “Back in surplus next year.”
He also thanked Greg Hunt, saying: “It’s great to have you back mate.” He also paid tribute to Andrew Hirst -- the Liberal Party’s federal director -- which triggered the crowd to yell out “Hirsty, Hirsty Hirsty”.
Joe Kelly 12.10am: PM praises Abbott
“Thank you to Tony Abbott for your service to this country,” he said.
Mr Morrison also thanked “pretty much the whole state of Queensland” as well as Victorian MPs Jason Wood and Michael Sukkar as well as NSW MPs David Coleman and Lucy Wicks.
He thanked Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton as well as other Queensland MPs.
Richard Ferguson 12.05am: Morrison holds court
Scott Morrison declares a stunning election victory at the Sydney Sofitel and says it is a win for “the quiet Australians.”
“How good is Australia? And how good are Australians?” the Prime Minister says.
“This is the best country in the world in which to live... And it’s those Australians that we have been working for for the last 5 and a half years, since we came to government, under Tony Abbott’s leadership back in 2013.
“It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations, to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing.
“To start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids. To save your retirement. And to ensure that when you’re in your retirement, that you can enjoy it because you’ve worked hard for it.
“These are the quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight”
Richard Ferguson 12.03am: ‘How good is Australia’
Scott Morrison takes the stage with wife Jenny and his daughters Abbey and Lily, declaring “thank you friends.”
“A little while ago Mr Shorten contacted me and I thank him very much and the spirit in which he made that call.”
“I would like to wish him and Chloe and his family, the best and God’s blessings.”
“I have always believed in miracles,” he said. “I’m standing here with the three biggest miracles in my life.”
“How good is Australia?”
Richard Ferguson 11.59pm: ‘I’ve always believed in miracles’
Scott Morrison says he “always believed in miracles” as he enters the Liberal election party.
“’I’m feeling great but I’m keen to get inside and have a chat,” the Prime Minister told the Nine Network.
“I’ve always believed in miracles, mate.”
His wife Jenny says: “I’m very good and excited ...Amazing anxious time and we are just thrilled.”
Joe Kelly 11.58pm: Crowd hails Morrison
The crowd of Liberal Party supporters has started chanting “ScoMo” as they wait for Scott Morrison to enter the room and give his victory speech.
Mr Morrison enters with his wife Jenny and embraces Liberal supporters as he makes his way to the stage.
Rosie Lewis 11.55pm: Party’s over for Labor
The Labor Party faithful leave Bill Shorten’s election night party with a lot of soul-searching. There are questions over polling, over preferences from Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and over the ambitious policy agenda Labor set. There are also questions oover the leadership of the outgoing opposition leader. They didn’t see this result coming and are visibly shocked and upset.
Richard Ferguson 11.50pm: ‘Never give up’
Bill Shorten ends his failed campaign by calling on young Australians to become engaged in politics.
“To offer yourself as a leader of such a great country, to seek to serve such generous and courageous people, it is an extraordinary honour,” he says in Melbourne.
“I leave the stage tonight but I encourage all Australians, particularly young Australians, never lose faith in the power of individuals to make a difference. Never give up. Never give up aiming for better.
“Better for your country. Better for your future. Because the things that matter most are the things that are worth fighting for. We can’t change the past but my word we can change the future.”
Richard Ferguson 11.45pm: Bill bitter at preference deals
Bill Shorten has blamed Coalition preference deals with One Nation and Clive Palmer for his disastrous performance in Queensland and NSW.
“Clearly the Coalition’s arrangements with One Nation and Clive Palmer have hurt our vote in a lot of places where it mattered most, particularly in Queensland and NSW,” he says.
“Friends, I am disappointed by tonight’s results.
“But I am not disappointed for me. I’ll always be proud of the courage and the integrity and the vision that our team showed. I’m disappointed for people who depend upon Labor but I’m proud that we argued what was right, not what was easy.”
Richard Ferguson 11.43pm: ‘I wish we’d done it for Bob’
Bill Shorten says he wish he could have won the election for the late Bob Hawke.
“That I have always loved about the Labor Party, and I still do, is the ideas that we champion, it’s the people we empower, the people who count upon us, the people who need good strong reforming Labor Governments,” he says in Melbourne.
“Gee, I wish we could have formed a government for these Australians on this evening. I wish we could have won for the true believers, for our brothers and sisters in the mighty trade union movement, I wish we would have done it for Bob.
“I want to say to our Labor movement and our Labor Party, all of you can say this: We worked incredibly hard. We advanced ideas. We campaigned on a positive vision. We were up-front and clear about the reforms that both sides of politics have ignored for decades.”
Richard Ferguson 11.40pm: Shorten to quit as Labor leader
Bill Shorten has conceded the election and resigned as leader of the Labor Party.
“I want to say beyond this room to Australians who supported Labor: I know that you’re all hurting and I am too,” he says in Melbourne.
“And without wanting to hold out any false hope, while there are still millions of votes to count and important seats yet to be finalised, it is obvious that Labor will not be able to form the next government.
“This has been a tough campaign. Toxic at times. But now that the contest is over, all of us have a
responsibility to respect the result, respect the wishes of the Australian people and to bring our nation together.
“However that task will be one for the next leader of the Labor Party because while I intend to continue to serve as the member for Maribyrnong, I will not be a candidate in the next Labor leadership ballot.”
11.39pm: On a lighter note ....
TOMORROW’S FRONT PAGE #auspol #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/1ca4xkvGk8
— The NT News (@TheNTNews) May 18, 2019
Richard Ferguson 11.37pm: Clive claims credit
Mining magnate Clive Palmer has claimed credit for Bill Shorten’s shocking election loss, even though he has spectacularly failed to get into parliament despite an unprecedented advertising spend.
“We saved Australia from $1 trillion of extra costing,” he said in Brisbane. “Bill Shorten always said he wanted to increase the wages of ordinary strength, how do you increase the wages by taxing them to oblivion, goodbye Bill. Getting his money’s worth out of this one.”
Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party has only polled 3.38 per cent nationally, and 3.46 per cent in his home state of Queensland.
11.36pm: The biggest loser?
Yep, we blew $1.3million
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 18, 2019
Could have been $80million though eh Clive?#ausvotes #Ausvotes2019 pic.twitter.com/R8kG9GqK5q
Joe Kelly 11.35pm: Shorten concedes
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been delayed from giving his victory speech to Liberal supporters in Sydney because he has been waiting for a call from Bill Shorten.
When the news broke that Mr Shorten had conceded defeat, the crowd erupted.
Greg Brown 11.25pm: Labor’s Qld disaster revealed
Labor’s primary vote in Queensland was just 27 per cent, with the party winning six out of 30 seats in the state.
Labor’s vote crashed by more than 4 per cent in the key state as Bill Shorten’s handling of the Adani issue turned marginal Liberal National Party seats into safe ones.
The LNP’s primary vote in Queensland was 43 per cent, while the Greens polled at 10 per cent.
On a two-party preferred basis, there was a 4 per cent swing in favour of the LNP, at 56.5 per cent compared to Labor’s 43.5 per cent.
Greg Brown 11.20pm: No concession tonight?
Labor frontbencher Ed Husic said it would be a “purely rational decision” if Bill Shorten did not concede tonight.
“We still have a lot of votes that we’re going through and we owe it to Labor supporters and Labor voters to get those results,” Mr Husic said.
“It is not being obstinate, it’s about making sure you’re operating on the basis of fact.”
Joe Kelly 11.10pm: Emergency call
Paramedics have entered the Liberal Party campaign function in Sydney and stretchered out a man who collapsed in the crowd.
A sense of jubilation has overwhelmed the room with ecstatic Liberal supporters booing Bill Shorten when vision popped on the big screens of the Opposition Leader arriving at the Labor campaign function in Melbourne.
Richard Ferguson 11pm: Greens unscathed
The Greens have exceeded expectations and look set to hold onto their seats in the Senate.
Sarah Hanson-Young in South Australia, Larrissa Waters in Queensland, Janet Rice in Victoria and Mehreen Faruqi in NSW are likely to win. Numbers are not yet in for their Western Australian seat.
They have failed to pick up an extra lower house seat, but their success in the Senate will likely cement Richard Di Natale’s leadership.
Senator Di Natale had set his success in the Senate as a bar for his party’s success earlier in the night.
“You always look for lessons in campaigns ... a year ago people were saying the Greens would be wiped out in the Senate and we’re in a strong position to hold our team,” he told Sky News.
Greg Brown 10.52pm: Clive’s cash splash failure
Clive Palmer has failed to win a spot in the Senate as the Liberal National Party gained ground in Queensland and turned a swag of marginal seats into safe ones.
Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party and Fraser Anning failed to win a spot in the upper house, despite Mr Palmer spending $60 million on campaign advertising.
The Liberal National Party is on track to win three Queensland spots in in the Senate, compared to two from Labor, one from the Greens and a spot for One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts.
Bill Shorten had a disastrous result in Queensland and lost two lower house seats to the Liberal National Party, the north Queensland seat of Herbert and the outer Brisbane seat of Longman.
Labor is likely to hold just six out of 30 seats in Queensland after the election.
It also suffered swings on electorates it is expected to retain, including going backwards by 5 per cent in Lilley and 7 per cent in Blair.
Labor was targeting at least six seats in Queensland at the start of the campaign, including the formerly ultra marginal seats of Capricornia, Flynn, Petrie, Forde, Leichhardt and Dawson.
But the seats instead swung heavily in the Coalition’s favour, with the government improving its vote in Capricornia by 12 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
The LNP had a swing of 12 per cent in Dawson, 8 per cent in Forde and Flynn and 6 per cent in Petrie.
The Opposition Leader struggled while campaigning in Queensland because of his lukewarm position on the Adani coalmine, which is popular in central and north Queensland.
Alice Workman 10.45pm: No word from Shorten
Craig Laundy says Scott Morrison hasn’t received a call from Bill Shorten yet. “He is very excited,” he said on Seven. “He hasn’t had a call from Bill yet, but he is desperate to spend time with a faithful that have worked their guts out over the past 5-6 weeks.”
Mr Laundy spoke to Mr Morrison as he and his family drove to the Coalition’s election night party in Sydney.
Chris Bowen confirmed Bill Shorten hasn’t called Scott Morrison, “and nor should he”.
“A leader of the opposition calls a prime minister to concede and a prime minister calls the opposition to concede and neither of them should yet.”
Mr Bowen said he doesn’t expect the result to be called tonight but confirmed Mr Shorten was on his way to Labor’s party in Melbourne to speak to the party “faithful”.
Remy Varga 10.42pm: ‘A Herculean effort’
Sarah Henderson arrived to applause as the made her way through crowds of party faithful chanting her name to declare her seat “too close to call”. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are neck and neck,” she said. “This seat is too close to call.”
Ms Henderson said it had been an incredible night for the Liberal Party and said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had called her about an hour ago to thank her for her efforts in the seat of Corangamite which was on a margin of 0.003 per cent.
“We stood there resolutely fighting with every bone in our body for every single vote,” she said. “Now we know it’s too close to call and it may be a number of days before we know what the vote is. This has been a Herculean effort.”
Ms Henderson said there were around 14,500 postal votes left to count.
Alice Workman 10.40pm: Plibersek defiant
Tanya Plibersek has refused to concede the election result, saying it’s too soon to write off Labor. “I don’t think you can call the election as done,” Ms Plibersek told the ABC.
“I think I might wait for the voters’s ballot papers to be counted before we do that. We’re still doing very well in Boothby, for example. We’ve picked up Corangamite and Dunkley in Victoria. We look good in Chisholm. There’s a number of other seats where we look good. The West Australian votes are only just starting to come in. We’ve got about 4.7 million pre-poll votes to count.”
Ms Plibsersek conceded Labor has been slammed in Queensland, blaming strong One Nation and Clive Palmer preference flows to the Coalition.
She said she was very proud of the campaign Labor has run and the party’s expansive positive vision for the country.
“The Liberals ran an extremely negative scare campaign,” she said.
“They just made up Labor policies, you know? There was death duties attack they just made up... you know forcing people to drive electric cars, stealing your weekends, stealing your Tim Tams. I mean, there’s a lot of fantasy, the Liberal Party campaign against Labor.”
Ms Plibersek refused to weigh into whether Bill Shorten should stay on as Labor leader in opposition.
“Bill ran a fantastic campaign, and he had a great team behind him and a great set of policies.”
Rosie Lewis 10.35pm: Party stopper
.@billshortenmp is on his way from the CBD to his function at Hyatt Place in his electorate #ausvotes @australian
— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) May 18, 2019
Richard Ferguson 10.28pm: Seats in the balance
Scott Morrison is just a few votes away from claiming majority government with tight results in seats like Wentworth and Chisholm set to decide his strength in the House of Representatives.
Chisholm, a key Labor target in Victoria, now has Liberal candidate Gladys Lu in the lead by 50.2 per cent and Labor candidate Jennifer Yan behind 49.8 per cent.
Losing Chisholm would be a massive hit to Labor’s strategy to win government on the back of Victorian seats. The ALP will pick up Corangamite and Dunkley, which were already notionally Labor after redistributions of electoral boundaries.
The South Australian seat of Boothby remains tight but incumbent government MP Nicolle Flint is now ahead of Labor’s Nadia Clancy with 50.4 per cent of the vote.
In NSW, Labor are set to lose the Blue Mountains seat of Macquarie, with Liberal candidate Sarah Richards on 50.07 per cent. A seat poll released last week had Labor ahead 53-47.
In Wentworth, Independent MP Kerryn Phelps is now leading on two-party preferred votes 50.93 per cent to Liberal candidate Dave Sharma’s 49.83.
On current trends, the Coalition could end up with 77 seats, and a majority of two in the lower house.
Rachel Baxendale 10.20pm: Libs close in on Higgins
Katie Allen is still holding back from claiming victory for the Liberals in Higgins, but it’s hard to see them losing now.
With 41.79 per cent of the vote counted, the Liberal primary is at 48.12 per cent, with Labor on 25.81 and the Greens on 22.26.
The Liberals lead Labor 53.26 to 46.74 two-party-preferred.
Higgins Libs getting ready for a @Katie4Higgins live cross. She's still not calling it, but Antony Green is #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/Hhqpxj9hJg
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
Greg Brown 10.15pm: Labor’s ‘not going to make it’
Opposition employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor says it looks like Labor is “not going to make it” over the line in tonight’s election.
Mr O’Connor said Labor’s ambitious agenda will need to be reviewed.
He would not say if Bill Shorten’s leadership was over.
“They are decisions for the partyroom and a decisions for the partyroom and a decision for Bill as well. That is something we will worry about after we count all of the seats,” Mr O’Connor said.
“I think there will be a lot of reflection for the Labor Party in relation to policies and personnel but that is something for another time.
“I am surprised by the result. The way the votes are going. It is hard for us when we thought we would do better.”
Matthew Denholm 10.10pm: Braddon boilover
Liberal candidate Gavin Pearce has claimed victory in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon, praising the leadership of Scott Morrison and pledging loyalty to him “for the rest of my days”.
Mr Pearce, an Angus cattle farmer, said “the work starts tomorrow”, after taking the northwest Tasmanian electorate from Labor MP Justine Keay, 54 to 46 on a 2CP basis.
He credited his win to the Liberals’ focus on health, jobs and protecting the local “way of life”, and to Labor’s big funding promises for the state’s south.
“Our opposition had prioritised down south - they said they wanted to spend $25m on an AFL team,” he told a celebratory crowd at Weller’s Inn, in Burnie.
“That isn’t going to help the people of Braddon. It’s not going to create jobs. It’s not going to help our health system...”
He lauded Mr Morrison, who toured the seat repeatedly during the campaign, including this morning. “Look at August, July last year and where we were then, and look where Scott Morrison has brought us today,” he said.
“I have the utmost respect for this guy....He’s intelligent, he’s enthusiastic, he’s caring, he’s got a heart, and he’s got the guts to make the tough decisions.”
Labor also appears to have lost the neighbouring seat of Bass, with Liberal candidate Bridget Archer leading sitting Labor MP Ross Hart 51.2 to 48.7 on a 2CP basis, with 65 per cent counted.
Richard Ferguson 9.55pm: Howard praises Morrison
John Howard has congratulated a victorious Scott Morrison and the Coalition team.
“It is very clear that Scott Morrison has waged an incredibly successful campaign,” the former prime minister told the Seven Network.
“The indication so far are very promising and we are so delighted about some of the individual results I am absolutely delighted that Peter Dutton has held his seat, a very strong performance from New South Wales and Queensland.”
“But above all, I congratulate Scott Morrison, he took over in very difficult circumstances and has waged a relentless campaign, he has been direct, he has been clear and he has argued the case incredible well.”
Mr Howard also paid respect to his friend and former Liberal leader Tony Abbott, who has lost his seat of Warringah after 25 years.
“I am very sorry about what happened to Tony Abbott, he has been a friend of mine for many years and I grieve for his loss and I salute the enormous contribution that Tony has made to public life in Australia.”
Mr Howard says he is a “very happy man” as the likelihood of a Coalition victory increases.
“(Scott Morrison) is the person more than anybody else who deserves credit for this remarkable outcome,” Mr Howard told Nine Network. “He has waged a wonderful campaign, it is a most been flawless.”
Mr Howard said Bill Shorten’s undoing was his divisive class war agenda.
“I think you are wrong in trying to divide the country along class lines. All of this talk about the big end of town, if you make a few bob and you are successful, and you want to invest, and you want to leave some of your children, it doesn’t make you the big end of town,” Mr Howard said. “He has done something I don’t think Bob Hawke would have ever done, and that is trying to divide the country on class lines.”
— Additional reporting: Greg Brown
Rosie Lewis 9.52pm: Bill’s party crashes
There are devastated Labor Party members at Bill Shorten’s election night function.
Andrew Philippou, from Maribyrnong, said he was “gutted” as he watched the results come in.
“People have voted for greed over hope,” he told The Australian. “It’s self-interest. Labor’s agenda is it’s sharing the wealth around. But you’ve got to accept it (the result), bad or good.”
Mr Philippou said the Opposition Leader should now step down and the party look for a new leader, favouring Penny Wong or Kristina Keneally to take over.
Both women are in the upper house and would likely have to move to the House of Representatives before putting their hand up for Labor leader.
Craig, another Labor member who did not want to share his last name, said he was feeling “surprised and not surprised at the same time”.
“It’s hard to analyse the vote. It’s been a good campaign. Everyone is going to debate the leadership but the platform would have been the same,” he said.
“I don’t think (a different leader) would have changed the result.”
Mr Philippou said United Australia Party and Pauline Hanson One Nation preferences helped the Coalition in Queensland.
Sid Maher 9.49pm: Morrison poised for victory
Scott Morrison has retained power in tonight’s election.
Bill Shorten’s Labor Party will finish behind Scott Morrison’s Coalition and the Prime Minister still has a path to a majority government.
In counting to date, the Coalition holds 74 seats to Labor’s 67 seats, while the crossbench looks set to contain six members. It is ahead in three seats which are too close to call. If these leads hold, it could win a bare majority in the 151-seat House of Representatives.
Labor failed to make the gains it expected due largely to a poor primary vote of just 33.92 per cent, which was 1.59 per cent below its primary vote at the last election.
The Coalition’s primary vote is 41.7 per cent, 1.3 per cent below its 2016 result.
The Coalition has gained the seats of Herbert and Longman in Queensland and Lindsay in NSW but has lost Gilmore to Labor and Warringah to the independent Zali Steggall.
The Liberals have also gained Bass and Braddon in Tasmania.
Remy Varga 9.45pm: Treasurer cashing in
The Corangamite liberal crowd goes absolutely bananas as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg makes his victory speech.
“When we were elected by the party room last August, we went back to his old office, which is now my office, and he said to me, we can win this,” Mr Frydenberg told party faithful at his election night party.
“And every day since that day he has been tireless, criss-crossing the country and selling our message to the Australian people.”
A lady shakes her fist at the screen after Sky News cut to Andrew Bolt. Still no sign of Sarah Henderson.
Richard Ferguson 9.44pm: Keating’s missed stake
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has declared victory in Dickson, and thanked a former prime minister.
“I want to thank a former prime minister. His name is Paul Keating. This is the sweetest victory of all,” Mr Dutton says. Mr Keating called on Dickson voters to “drive a stake” through “Dutton’s dark political heart” last week.
“I want to pay tribute to Scott Morrison,” Mr Dutton went on to say.
“I think he has provided amazing leadership. He has distilled our message down to one that the Australian people understand.
“He has been able to campaign in marginal seats and put pressure on Bill Shorten, which is what Bill Shorten deserved. He needed to be called out, and he was.
“And to Scott Morrison’s great credit, right across this great country, he has been able to spread a message of our vision for the future of this country and people have overwhelmingly accepted that.”
David King 9.42pm: Keneally attacks ‘scare campaign’
Labor Senator Kristina Keneally says the Coalition’s preference deals and scare campaigns have hurt Labor’s results.
“I mentioned the preference deal that the Coalition did with Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson, and I do think that has really hurt us.”
“I do think this preference deal with Clive Palmer, his $50 million or $70 million or whatever it ends up being ad-buy, has really hurt us. Let’s be blunt about it.”
She said the Coalition had run scare campaigns that damaged Labor including those focusing on the “retiree tax that was not a tax” and death duties.
“There were plenty of examples on social media, on WeChat and the like where there were out and out lies being told,” she said.
Greg Brown 9.38pm: A famous victory
Julie Bishop says Scott Morrison will be “forever immortalised” if the Liberal wins the election.
“If Scott Morrison pulls this off tonight he will be forever immortalised in the history of the Liberal Party. He will be conferred enduring fame if he is able to find that goat track back,” Ms Bishop told the Nine Network.
Greg Brown 9.37pm: Hunt hails shock result
Health Minister Greg Hunt says it looks “very positive” he will hold onto the seat of Flinders, but he will not yet call the result.
Nationally, Mr Hunt said he would prefer to be in the Coalition’s position than Labor’s.
“I would cautiously prefer to be in our position but there is a long way to go,” Mr Hunt told Nine Network.
He said Scott Morrison has built a “deep connection” with the public. “He is of them, he is authentic,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Hunt leads Labor in Flinders 51 per cent to 49 per cent on a two-party preferred basis with 46 per cent of votes counted.
Joe Kelly 9.36pm: Coalition calls sparks cheers
The Liberal crowd at the Wentworth Sofitel has burst into cheers at the ABC prediction for a Coalition victory.
Richard Ferguson 9.35pm: Government on verge of win
ABC elections analyst Antony Green says the Morrison Coalition Government has been re-elected.
Mr Green says he cannot yet predict whether the Coalition will govern as a majority or minority government.
The ABC currently has the government on 73 seats.
Greg Brown 9.30pm: Hung parliament on cards
Anthony Albanese says it is looking increasingly likely there will be a hung parliament.
“Labor can win. The Coalition can win, or I think it is increasingly looking like a real possibility of a hung parliament,” the Labor frontbencher said.
Mr Albanese, Bill Shorten’s former challenger for the Labor leadership, said he expected Labor to have performed better.
“There is no point pretending otherwise. We have a government that has voted no confidence in itself by replacing (two) prime ministers,” he said.
He would not put the blame on the Opposition Leader.
“He has been the leader of the team and we have had a team approach all the way through. We certainly shouldn’t be pointing the finger at anyone. We all take collective responsibility for outcomes in the Labor Party,” he said.
David King 9.25pm: History beckons
Jennifer Yang is poised to become the first female Chinese-Australian MP in the lower house of Federal Parliament.
Ms Yang, who was born in Taiwan, is contesting the seat of Chisholm in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs against the Liberal’s Gladys Liu, who also has Chinese heritage.
Ms Yang has recorded a swing of about 4.7 per cent on current counting and is well positioned to win the seat, which was previously held by the Liberal’s Julia Banks before she turned Independent.
“I think we are optimistic, but it’s still probably too close to call, but see how we go,” Ms Yang told Channel 10’s Jennifer Keyte.
Asked how she would feel if she entered parliament she said: “I feel a bit unreal. I would feel extremely honoured if it was me.”
There are about 1.2 million Australians with Chinese-Australian heritage.
Richard Ferguson 9.21pm: Coalition best in the west
Western Australian results have inched Scott Morrison closer towards taking government.
Liberal MPs have had swings to them in Swan, Hasluck, Pearce and Stirling despite being heavily targeted by the Labor Party.
Labor is holding in Cowan but looks set to not pick up any seats in the West. Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson says Labor cannot form majority government.
Elias Visontay 9.18pm: Wentworth tightens
The Liberal Party function at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney is filling up and party supporters are buoyed by the early results, cheering as former ALP power broker Graham Richardson declared that Bill Shorten would be unable to form majority government.
Remy Varga 9.15pm: Bright spot for Labor
Alastair Thompson, the Liberal candidate for Corio, has conceded defeat.
“Personally guys it doesn’t look for me,” he said. “I think I’m in a bit of trouble.”
Mr Thompson was selected to run for the seat on April 20 after the original candidate Murray Angus was dumped. He doesn’t seem particularly upset or surprised he lost. He congratulated incumbent MP Richard Marles for retaining the seat.
Mr Thompson said Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson is on her way. Labor candidate Libby Coker is ahead of Ms Henderson by a margin of 3-4 per cent.
Punters are eating party pies as they are remain cautiously optimistic about tonight’s result as the Coalition performs better than expected.
Alice Workman 9.10pm: Shorten ‘feeling anxious’
Labor frontbencher Brendan O’Connor says he thinks Bill Shorten would be feeling very anxious about the election result so far.
“He would be feeling like every other Labor member - very, you know, anxious about the outcome, and, you know, we put everything into this,” he told the ABC.
Mr O’Connor has blamed the party’s poor performance on the negative campaign run by the Coalition. He conceded that there is no easy path for any party to win a majority government tonight.
“It’s a tough night for us, and it’s a long night, I think,” he told the ABC. “Because looking at the seats that have been determine, or called, and others that are unresolved, there’s no easy path to an absolute majority for either party. “
Mr O’Connor says he’s counting on the 4 million pre-poll votes to go to Labor.
“Well, as I’m advised, is that some of the pre-poll booths haven’t been counted,” Mr O’Connor told the ABC. “There’s 4 million pre-poll votes. I think that is a very high proportion of the national votes.
“I think that is a very high proportion of the national vote, and if that is the case then, of course, it may have a bearing on the outcome of some of those close-call seats.”
Mr O’Connor has blamed Labor’s poor performance in Queensland on Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party and One Nation preferences, which went to the LNP.
“It’s disappointing, but, you know, at the moment we’ve - it’s still a long night.”
Mr O’Connor said he thinks Labor can pick up the Liberal seat of Boothby in South Australia.
Rosie Lewis 9.08pm: ALP’s egg cracks
The Melbourne teen dubbed “Egg Boi” is at Bill Shorten’s election night function as a special guest. Seventeen-year-old Will Connolly, who came to fame after he cracked an egg on controversial senator Fraser Anning’s head, would not be interviewed.
The Opposition Leader’s twin brother, Robert, is also at the Hyatt Place Melbourne, as is well known Melbournian Father Bob.
Ean Higgins 9.05pm: Oakeshott up against it
Just before 9pm, Mr Oakeshott addressed supporters at the Town Green Inn, to say the vote was going against him but there remained some hope in a large prepoll vote yet to be counted.
“I am hopeful the prepoll will tell a different story to what we saw on TV,” Mr Oakeshott said. “Absolute fingers crossed.”
“In a way it would be nice to concede, but it is too early to concede,” he said.
Mr Oakeshott said it might be a case where, like the famous line of Maxwell Smart, he had “missed by that much. If we miss out by that much, I apologise,” he told supporters.
Richard Ferguson 9pm: Steggall makes it official
Zali Steggall has declared victory in the Sydney North Shore seat in Warringah, where she has deposed the former prime minister Tony Abbott.
“It is so humbling, I can’t begin to tell you! What a day,” she says.
“Tonight Warringah has definitely voted for the future ... And you all showed that when communities want change, they make it happen.
“This is a win for moderates with a heart.
“I would like to pay tribute to Tony Abbott, who has been a dedicated and long-serving local member ... Nobody can doubt his community spirit, his work ethic, and his this contribution to this community. And I wish him well.
“Warringah, we have a new beginning for our environment ... I will be a climate leader for you. I will keep the new government to account and make sure we take action on climate change.
Richard Ferguson 8.58pm: Coalition now favoured
Betting markets have swung behind Scott Morrison in a result reminiscent of their late swing to Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.
The Coalition are now favourites to take government at $1.10 and Labor are out to $7. It is an almost total flip from the odds this morning.
Sportsbet had paid out on a Labor victory a few days ago and there was even a $1 million bet put on Labor.
The late shift is very similar to when Hillary Clinton started out the huge favourite to take the White House, only for betting markets to swing behind the now-President as results came in.
Greg Brown 8.55pm: Abbott ‘should have walked’
Julie Bishop has questioned why Tony Abbott did not vacate his seat of Warringah for a moderate Liberal, given the obvious appetite for climate change action in the electorate.
“The lingering question it is going to be if he knew after the Wentworth by-election that he couldn’t win, and a moderate Liberal could, why (didn’t) he stand aside for a moderate Liberal to win the seat,” Ms Bishop told Nine Network.
Alice Workman 8.53pm: GetUp ‘clowns’ condemned
Barnaby Joyce has attacked left-wing lobby group GetUp for going after Tony Abbott in Warringah, labelling them “clowns”.
“Tony Abbott is going to be an incredible loss to our parliament,” he said. “I have great respect for Tony, Margie, his girls and the work they’ve done.
“What I could say to the people who put all those resources into it: You went after one bloke. You went after him.
“Whilst going after him, you forgot about the other seats you might have wn, you clowns.”
Mr Abbott has conceded defeat, but predicted that the Coalition will win government.
Rachel Baxendale 8.52pm: Game on in Higgins
There’s been an odd turn of events at the Liberal Party Higgins function this evening, where optimism is rapidly increasing that Katie Allen will hold on against the Greens and Labor.
The media were initially warmly welcomed into the Malvern Bowls Club rooms by staff of Liberal candidate Katie Allen and Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien.
Then outgoing Higgins MP Kelly O’Dwyer arrived and asked the contingent, including Channel Seven, a cameraman filming for all stations, and The Australian, to wait outside in the cold.
Minutes later Dr Allen’s staff came out and invited us back in, apologising profusely for the mixed messages.
Also present here are Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien, frontbencher Mary Wooldridge and former shadow attorney-general John Pesutto, who lost his previously safe state seat of Hawthorn in November.
Dr Allen is expected to arrive and give a speech shortly.
Luke Griffiths 8.49pm: Mayo result sealed
Rebekha Sharkie has claimed Mayo for Centre Alliance, defeating Georgina Downer for the second time.
With more than a third of votes counted, Ms Sharkie leads Ms Downer by 8 points on a two-party basis, 54-46 per cent.
Ms Sharkie told her supporters at an event in Adelaide tonight the Mayo community “realise how important it is to have a marginal seat”.
The result leaves the political future of Ms Downer, the daughter of former Liberal leader and Mayo MP Alexander Downer, in uncertain territory.
Greg Brown 8.47pm: Plibersek addresses Coalition charge
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says it is “too early to tell” who will win the election, as the numbers look positive for the Coalition.
“We are actually looking very good in Corangamite, Dunkley, Chisholm and Gilmore. There’s a number of seats we are very positive about. There are many seats that are way too close to call. In fact the only thing you can say about tonight is that it’s likely to be a very long night,” Ms Plibersek told Nine Network.
Sascha O’Sullivan 8.44pm: Phelps jubilant
Independent candidate for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps has arrived to a jubilant mood at her campaign party at North Bondi surf club.
Dr Phelps team of volunteers turned out in droves in their distinct purple T-shirts and cheered on the independent candidate as she walked in.
Matthew Denholm 8.41pm: Libs feast on Apple Isle
The Liberals have almost certainly taken the northwest Tasmanian seat of Braddon from Labor, and also appear to have the edge in neighbouring Bass.
The atmosphere at the Liberal function in Burnie, in Braddon is buoyant, with Liberal candidate Gavin Pearce expected to claim victory soon.
The Angus cattle farmer is leading sitting Labor MP Justine Keay 54 to 45 on a two candidate preferred basis.
Ms Keay, who held the seat on preferences at last year’s Super Saturday by-elections, has suffered a negative 8.5 per cent swing on primary vote.
In Bass, the result appears to be a wafer-thin Liberal win over Labor incumbent Ross Hart, with Liberal candidate Bridget Archer leading 50.79 to 49.2 on 2CP, with a handful of booths to be counted.
Labor MP Brian Mitchell should hold Lyons, leading disendorsed Liberal Jessica Whelan 55.9 to 44.9 on a 2CP basis, with most booths counted.
Greg Brown 8.38pm: Abbott out but Coalition surges
Tony Abbott says there is “every chance” the Coalition has won the election, despite losing his own seat of Warringah.
“Tonight we have good news, and yes we have a little bit of bad news. But the good news is much more important than the bad news. The good news is that there is every chance that the Liberal coalition has one this election,” Mr Abbott said.
“Of course it’s disappointing for us here in Warringah but what matters is that what’s best for the country. And what’s best for the country is not so much you who wins or loses Warringah but who forms or does not form a government in Canberra.”
Luke Griffiths 8.35pm: Pyne successor set for win
Christopher Pyne’s replacement, James Stevens, is on track to retain the South Australian seat of Sturt for the Liberal Party.
Mr Stevens leads his Labor opponent, Cressida O’Hanlon, by 9 points on a two-party basis, 54.5-45.5 per cent.
More than 14 per cent of votes have been counted.
Mr Stevens, 35, has long been seen as a politician in the making.
A member of the Liberal Party since he was a teenager, he has held several senior party positions, most recently as chief of staff to Premier Steven Marshall.
He oversaw Mr Pyne’s past four election campaigns.
Since it was formed in 1949, Labor has only held Sturt on two occasions, totalling less than five years.
Greg Brown 8.33pm: Bishop praises Morrison
Julie Bishop says Scott Morrison deserve the credit for a better-than-expected result for the Coalition.
“It comes down to Scott Morrison’s campaigning. Unrelenting. He shouldered the burden of the campaigning tasks, for a range of reasons. He has been energetic. He has run an orthodox platform of economic management, bringing the budget back into surplus,” Ms Bishop said.
Richard Ferguson 8.30pm: ‘Labor can’t win’
Victorian Labor powerbroker Stephen Conroy says he cannot see Labor getting a parliamentary majority.
The former Gillard government minister says the opposition is still hopeful of gaining two to three seats in Western Australia.
The national two-party preferred vote count has now switched to Labor, who are leading 50.17 per cent to the Coalition’s 49.83 per cent.
Rosie Lewis 8.28pm: Anthony Pratt anoints Shorten
Australia’s richest man, Anthony Pratt, has declared Bill Shorten will be the “new prime minister” as he mingles with Labor party faithful at the Opposition Leader’s election night function.
Mr Pratt, who is worth about $15 billion and owns Pratt Industries, told The Australian he hoped Mr Shorten would soon be able to attend the party at Hyatt Place Melbourne as the next prime minister, even though early results are neck-and-neck.
“We made a $2 billion investment pledge to create 5000 high paying manufacturing jobs in Australia and we’ve made that pledge to Australia. We would hope to work with the government and I think Bill Shorten is going to be the new prime minister,” Mr Pratt said.
“Bill’s going to be a great prime minister ... They say there’s no small parts, only small actors, Bill’s always been able to create big parts.”
The Pratt family has known Mr Shorten for a long time and was referenced by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull when he said the Opposition Leader had his legs under the table of billionaires.
Asked about some of the divisive language Mr Shorten has used throughout the campaign favouring working and middle class Australians over the top end of town, Mr Pratt said: “What I admire about Bill is he’s been very honest and straight forward. The way to test a leader is whether they fulfil their campaign promises. He’s been very forthright about what he’s going to do.”
Mr Pratt, who held a fundraiser for Mr Shorten at his mansion Raheen, was at Mr Turnbull’s election night function in 2016 and is close to US president Donald Trump.
Greg Brown 8.25pm: ‘Sucker punch’ for GetUp
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has declared “sucked in with a sucker punch” to GetUp for its failed bid to help Rob Oakeshott win the seat of Cowper.
“Oakeshott, thank you for turning up. Thank you for your contribution. The big shout out goes to GetUp!,” Mr Joyce told Nine Network.
“All the money wasted, congratulations ...sucked in with a sucker punch.”
Greg Brown 8.22pm: Bowen blowback
Opposition Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen - the chief salesman of Labor’s controversial tax policies - has received an 8 per cent swing against him in his western Sydney electorate of McMahon.
The swing has gone to the Liberal Party and One Nation, by 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Labor will retain the seat by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
John Ferguson 8.20pm: How Victoria is tracking
Labor is expected to win the seats of Corangamite, Chisholm and Dunkley in Victoria, according to Liberal sources.
The Liberals believe they will retain Greg Hunt’s Mornington Peninsula seat of Flinders and Josh Frydenberg inner-Melbourne seat of Kooyong, despite swings against them.
The seat of Casey, held by speaker Tony Smith, is extremely tight and currently too close to call.
Liberals also believe they will hold Kelly O’Dwyer’s former seat of Higgins, although there will be swing against the Liberals.
Greg Brown 8.18pm: Albo disappointed
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese says his party will not win the Sydney seat of Reid, despite being hopeful of winning it.
“We won’t win read tonight, we won’t win Banks tonight, and those were seats we were hopeful of winning,” Mr Albanese said.
“Our optimism (in Reid) was based upon the Craig Laundy factor. He was retiring, he was outstanding as a local member, a real knockabout bloke, very popular. We thought him leaving would leave a big gap that we hoped (Labor candidate) Sam Crosby would be able to run through.”
Luke Griffiths 8.15pm: Flint on knife edge
Nicolle Flint is behind in her bid to retain the suburban Adelaide seat of Boothby, South Australia’s only marginal seat.
Ms Flint’s contest against Labor candidate Nadia Clancy was predicted to be a nail biter and this looks set to play itself out as voting continues into the night.
With 6.2 per cent of the vote counted, Ms Clancy leads Ms Flint 50.3-49.7 per cent.
Boothby, which stretches from the affluent beachside suburbs of Glenelg and Brighton in the west to the foothills in the east, comprises an older and wealthier demographic compared to the state average.
Analysis finds it will be one of the most affected seats nationally should Labor’s retiree tax come into effect.
Elias Visontay 8.12pm: Party’s over for Labor
In what can only be an ominous sign for its campaign, Labor organisers in Lindsay are turning away media from their election night function.
ALP candidates Diane Beamer is understood to be on her way to the function at Penrith Bowling Club, but the media pack covering Lindsay have been forced to head to the Liberal function at Penrith Panthers.
The mood at Panthers is upbeat, in what looks to be one of the few scenes of joy for the coalition tonight.
Liberal candidate Melissa McIntosh is leading Ms Beamer 54.8 per cent to 45.2 per cent with 23 per cent of the vote counted.
Ms McIntosh is yet to arrive.
I'm here at Panthers in Penrith tonight covering how #LindsayVotes for the @australian. Liberal candidate Melissa McIntosh not yet here at the Liberal function, in what looks to be one of few scenes of joy for the coalition tonight pic.twitter.com/bRufUhPIwu
— Elias Visontay (@EliasVisontay) May 18, 2019
Richard Ferguson 8.10pm: All eyes turn west
Labor senate leader says Western Australia may decide the election and played down her party’s disastrous result in Queensland.
“Well, you know, there are probably lots of commentators who might talk about that but it’s been tough in Queensland for a fair while for Labor federally,” she told ABC News.
“Certainly really since ‘07 and we always thought that was going to be a state where the margins of some of the seats, notwithstanding where the two-party preferred nationally was, would mean that we would have a tough time.
“We’ve had state Labor Governments but that hasn’t, other in ‘07, translated into a strong federal vote.
“At this stage, where we’re tracking, WA will have the wish that they described to me when I was there last week. They said, ‘We don’t want it to be over before it gets to us.’ That’s probably the case.”
Richard Ferguson 8.06pm: Coalition edges ahead
The Coalition is ahead on the national two-party preferred vote as the night lingers on.
The government is leading 50.15 per cent to Labor’s 49.85 per cent on the Australian Electoral Commission count.
Exit polls had Labor ahead 52 per cent to 48 per cent at the beginning of the night.
Counting is now about to begin in Western Australia.
Richard Ferguson 8.02pm: Qld shocker for ALP
Labor Party campaign spokesman Jim Chalmers admits the opposition are struggling, and have performed badly in Queensland.
“It is very disappointing so far ... It has been not a good start for us in the count,” he told ABC radio. “We are in strife in Longman.”
Richard Ferguson 7.59pm: Oakeshott fails again
Former independent MP Rob Oakeshott has lost his second bid to return to parliament.
Nationals candidate Pat Conaghan is set to win with 58.17 per cent in the two-party preferred vote compared to Mr Oakeshott’s 41.83 per cent.
Mr Oakeshott ran and failed to win Cowper in 2016. He was previously the member for Lyne when he famously handed power to Julia Gillard after the 2010 election resulted in a hung parliament.
He has consistently refused to say whether he would back Labor again in a hung parliament, and has focused on local issues.
Luke Griffiths 7.55pm: Downer dips out in SA
Rebekha Sharkie is leading Georgina Downer in the South Australian seat of Mayo, suggesting a repeat of her by-election victory is likely.
With 10.4 per cent of votes counted, Ms Sharkie is ahead 53-47 per cent on a two-party basis.
Last year, Ms Sharkie defeated Ms Downer 57.5-42.5 per cent in a by-election brought about by the Centre Alliance MP’s citizenship issues.
Ms Downer is the daughter of former Liberal leader and Mayo MP Alexander Downer, who held Mayo from 1984 to 2008.
The 9135 sqkm seat of Mayo stretches from the Adelaide Hills in the north to Kangaroo Island in the south.
Charlie Peel 7.50pm: Adani factor hits Herbert
Early counting in the ultra-marginal Townsville electorate of Herbert has incumbent Labor MP Cathy O’Toole in danger of losing her seat with a swing of more than 4 per cent against her.
With 15 per cent of the vote counted, Liberal National Party candidate Phil Thompson leads the primary vote count on 33 per cent while Ms O’Toole’s support has dropped to 29 per cent.
Minor parties have performed typically strongly, with Katter’s Australian Party, One Nation, the Greens and United Australia Party sharing more than a third of the vote.
Herbert is the country’s most marginal seat, won by Ms O’Toole by 37 votes in 2016, when she anxiously had to wait for several weeks before being declared the winner.
The proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine has been a hot-button issue during the campaign, with Ms O’Toole failing to clearly articulate whether she supported the mine.
Opinion polling showed the LNP’s Phillip Thompson was expected to win the seat this year on a two-party-preferred vote of 52 per cent but the unpredictable flow of preferences from the minor parties has muddied the waters.
Katter’s Australian Party candidate Nanette Radeck has led a busy campaign, with polls showing she was expected to win 13 per cent of the vote.
The United Australia Party’s candidate, former rugby league star Greg Dowling, ran a low-key election campaign, rarely appearing in local media and dodging the electorate’s two public debates in favour of encouraging support at the polling booths.
One Nation won 13.5 per cent of the Herbert vote in 2016, but its candidate, jillaroo Amy Lohse, who lives more than 1000km away in Biggenden, has been hardly sighted during the 2019 campaign, making only one appearance in Townsville since the election was called.
A small band of Labor faithful in Townsville waiting for the arrival of Cathy O’Toole who appears set to lose the seat of Herbert pic.twitter.com/0Vtu65GUNJ
— Charlie Peel (@charliepeeled) May 18, 2019
Rosie Lewis 7.47pm: Labor cheers amid uncertainty
There are big cheers - the loudest yet - from the Labor faithful as they learn Tony Abbott has lost his seat to Zali Steggall. Labor strategists say it will be an “hour by hour” election night.
They’re preparing for a long evening, possibly with no clear result.
Greg Brown 7.46pm: Former PM ‘being punished’
Julie Bishop says the Liberal Party will have to revisit the national energy guarantee as Tony Abbott looks set to lose the seat of Warringah.
Ms Bishop said Mr Abbott was being punished because he was seen as a “climate change denier”.
“The national energy guarantee was the closest we had a bipartisan position on climate change. We have to revisit that because you can’t lose a seat like (Warringah),” Ms Bishop said.
Ms Bishop claimed she was sad Mr Abbott was going to lose his seat.
“I’m very sad, he was the prime minister of the country,” she said.
But she said Mr Abbott was out of step with his electorate because of his views on climate change and same-sex marriage.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said the result against Mr Abbott was a “slaughter”.
“There is no doubt that from the time that he became leader of the Liberal Party, I think the nature of politics change.
Julie Bishop says Tony Abbott was behind Peter Dutton’s push to challenge Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal leadership. “Tony distablised Malcolm’s leadership,” she said.
David King 7.41pm: Lindsay a Labor loss
Sam Dastyari says that Labor will lose the NSW seat of Lindsay. “I think it is now tracking away from the Labor party. I think if we’re going to be pretty frank and honest here, Lindsay is going to be won by the Liberal party at this election.
Greg Brown 7.38pm: Dutton back with a swing
Peter Dutton is on track to hold the seat of Dickson with 15 per cent of the vote counted.
The Home Affairs Minister has received 44 per cent of the vote, compared to Labor’s Ali France on 32.6 per cent.
The predicted two-party preferred is 56 to 44 per cent in favour of the Liberal National Party, which is a swing to the government.
Richard Ferguson 7.35pm: Coalition ‘rallying’ in Qld
Labor senate leader Penny Wong says she is concerned by the early votes which show the Coalition rallying in Queensland.
“Yes, of course I would prefer we got out of the blocks a bit better than we have but there are still a lot of votes out there, a lot of votes to count,” she told ABC News.
“A lot of the smaller booths come in early. There is a fair bit of third party votes in some of those seats. I want to wait a bit more.”
David King 7.32pm: Tony Abbott ‘done’
Sam Dastyari says Tony Abbott is “done” Warringah. “He’s done. I’m willing to call it,” the former Labor senator told Channel 10’s Your Vote.
“There is just no path to victory for the former prime minister on these kinds of numbers.
“He need a primary of about 45 (per cent), he’s looking in the low to mid 30s.
Pollster James Stewart says “it’s not looking good for Tony Abbott’ but the numbers were low, about 8000 counted out of 90,000 enrolled voters.
While Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said: “It is looking grim for Tony at this point”.
Greg Brown 7.30pm: Christensen on track for victory
Liberal Nationals MP George Christensen, dubbed the “member for Manilla” for spending so much time overseas, looks set to retain the Queensland seat of Dawson.
With more than 15,000 votes counted, Mr Christensen has 44 per cent of the vote, compared to 18 per cent from Labor candidate Belinda Hassan.
One Nation is polling at 13 per cent.
“This is a seat that relies on mining jobs, and George is at the front of that fight,” said deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie.
Greg Brown 7.26pm: Abbott in trouble
Julie Bishop has warned Tony Abbott could lose his seat of he does not achieve 44 per cent of the primary vote in Warringah.
The former foreign minister said other parties were preferencing independent Zali Steggall making it critical he had a strong primary vote.
With 5700 votes counted, Ms Steggall has 43 per cent of the primary vote, compared to 32 per cent from Tony Abbott.
“He needs to get as close as he can to 50 per cent,” Ms Bishop told Nine Network.
Alice Workman 7.23pm: Steggall sounds confident
Zali Steggall says today was a referendum for the people Warringah. “Look, we’ve worked very hard for the last four months to make this happen,” Ms Steggall told reporters on her way into her election night party at the Manly Novotel.
“I think it’s democracy. It was a referendum for Warringah to look forward in terms of the future and so from my point of view I think that’s ultimately what the people of Warringah decide.
“I think politics in Australia has not been at its best for the last 10 years and I think it’s time we changed that.
“The feedback from people is they don’t want those dirty tactics and smear campaigns, they want to focus on policies and know what you stand for.”
Remy Varga 7.20pm: Corangamite swings against Libs
Early results suggest a 3 to 4 per cent swing against the Liberals’ Sarah Henderson in Corangamite.
But is should be added that numbers of vote counted are low, and percentages are changing fast. However, Christopher Pyne said the Liberals primary in Corangamite was at 40 per cent so “we are not out of the hunt”.
Labor candidate Libby Coker has received just over 30 per cent on her primary, but her chances were boosted after independent candidate and local surfer Damien Cole made a last minute decision to give Labor his preferences.
Corangamite, which stretches from Geelong along the surf coast to Cape Otway, was on a razor thin margin of 0.03 per cent after electoral redistribution.
With less than one per cent of the vote counted we could be in for a long night folks
Rosie Lewis 7.18pm: Gilmore called for Labor
There’s a small round of applause at Bill Shorten’s election night function as the ABC’s Antony Green calls Gilmore for Labor. It’s going to get louder as the night goes on.
Greg Brown 7.15pm: Bishop unloads on Palmer
Julie Bishop has attacked Clive Palmer, despite the Liberal Party’s preference deal with the mining magnate.
The former foreign minister and outgoing MP ridiculed Mr Palmer’s party after early polling suggests he was on track to receive little more than 5 per cent of the vote in the regional Queensland seat of Kennedy.
“The United Australia Party is not even an original name, it is a 1930s name that came out of a breakup of some (non-Labor parties) and then turned into a conservative party,” Ms Bishop said.
“Here we are years later and $80 million for 3 per cent of the vote. He could not have afforded a landslide could he.”
Alice Workman 7.13pm: McCormack praises PM
Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack says Scott Morrison has run a “flawless campaign” without a single misstep.
“I think he’s done an outstanding job as the Prime Minister in the campaign. I don’t think there’s been a misstep. He at least explained what our climate costs are going to be. Bill Shorten couldn’t do that, refused to do it more than a hundred times.”
Mr McCormack has been re-elected in the NSW seat of Riverina and says he is hopeful all of the Nationals seats will be returned.
“I’m really hopeful all of our seats will be returned, and possibly we could add some,” he told the ABC.
Rosie Lewis 7.11pm: The latest from Longman
More than 8000 votes have been counted in the Queensland marginal seat of Longman, held by Labor’s Susan Lamb by 0.8 per cent. There’s been a 0.7 per cent swing against the incumbent across the 11 booths counted so far.
The Liberal Party is on 39.9 per cent of the primary vote, versus 34.7 per cent for Ms Lamb. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is on 12.6 per cent while the Greens have gained 6.2 per cent of the vote. The United Australia Party has 3.1 per cent.
Could preferences from One Nation tip this seat for the Libs? It’s too early to say but it will be one to watch.
Matthew Denholm 7.07pm: Labor’s Tasmania battle
Early counting in Tasmania suggests Labor MP for the northwest seat of Braddon, Justine Keay, may be in trouble.
With 24 of 76 booths counted, Ms Keay was on 25.5 per cent, well behind Liberal candidate Gavin Pearce, on 45.29 per cent.
With the Greens on 4.58 per cent, Ms Keay may struggle to received sufficient preferences to hold the seat if the trend continues.
Independent candidate Craig Brakey is on 10.3 per cent and his pretences will be crucial.
Alice Workman 7.05pm: Good news for government
Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos says the party’s scrutineers are reporting a 2.8 per cent swing towards the Liberals in the outer Brisbane seat of Longman.
“Given the overall numbers we just have to wait,” he said. “Longman is a seat where we were thinking it was a potential to come back to us in this election.
“That is partly because Morrison seems to be working better in the outer suburbs.
“It is almost a flip of 2016, the closer you get to the CBD, the more difficult it potentially becomes for us and that is where Malcolm [Turnbull] was strong.
With 7 of the 42 polling places returned, and just over 5000 votes counted, the Liberals are ahead on a two candidate preferred 55.79 per cent to 44.21 per cent.
The seat is currently held by Labor’s Susan Lamb.
Alice Workman 7pm: Wong decries ‘dirty tricks’
Labor senator Penny Wong says Chisholm has been a “particularly problematic” campaign full of dirty tricks.
“There has been outright lies and fake news on particular WeChat and other forums and we need to think carefully about how we deal with that down the track,” she told the ABC.
“There is always robust political debate and then there is outright lies and falsehoods being spread.”
“In that campaign, unfortunately, some pro-Liberal campaigning material has demonstrated that.”
MASSIVE RORT: in Chisholm Liberals have made posters in Chinese to look like AEC information that translates to "the correct way to vote is to put a number 1 next to the Liberals and number every other box.†It’s at every booth. When will the @AusElectoralCom pull them down? pic.twitter.com/nDbQJJXWDe
— Luke Hilakari (@lhilakari) May 17, 2019
Labor has lodged a complaint with the Australian Electoral Commission over fake posters which say “the correct way to vote is to put a number 1 next to the Liberals and number every other box” in Mandarin.
The posters, which are not official AEC material, were printed in AEC colours.
Several posts for Labor’s Deakin candidate Shireen Morrison were vandalised to depict her as wearing a niqab.
Using Islamophobia to try a secure votes... disgraceful. #DeakinDeservesBetter #auspol pic.twitter.com/LetDk2cc11
— Shireen Morris (@ShireenMorrisMs) May 17, 2019
David King 6.55pm: Lib ‘collapse in Gilmore’
Sam Dastyari says Labor is winning the count in the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore, quoting numbers he said were about “35 minutes ahead of the AEC”.
“There is a collapse in the Liberal party primary vote,” the former Labor senator said.
He said this was in part because of the three or four cornered contest underway, “but at this stage, Labor is winning Gilmore.”
Former Labor national secretary Warren Mundine is contesting the seat for the Liberals, competing against the ALP’s Fiona Phillips.
Richard Ferguson 6.51pm: Oakeshott staying mum
Independent candidate Rob Oakeshott is still refusing to say what party he would back in a hung parliament if he wins the NSW seat of Cowper.
“Let’s get across the line first,” he told ABC News. “The AEC has a lot of counting to do. I don’t think just tonight and tomorrow, I think in many seats around Australia there will be a lot of counting going on for some period of time.
“If this is a close election, we do need to all just temper our enthusiasm and allow the process to work and then obviously conversations will happen on the back of that.
“Let’s not get into hypotheticals about whether I can get across the line and then what the make up of the parliament is. Let’s have faith in the process and then see how the cards fall.”
Rachel Baxendale 6.46pm: Hanging tough in Higgins
Nervous Liberal Party faithful in Higgins are slowly gathering at the Malvern Bowls club, hoping paediatrician Katie Allen can hold the seat being vacated by Kelly O’Dwyer.
Both Labor and the Greens are doing their utmost to erode the 7.4 per cent margin the Liberals hold against the Greens, in the seat the Liberals have held since its establishment in 1949.
Bill Shorten visited a polling booth at Carnegie Primary school in Higgins earlier today with Labor candidate and former Law Council president Fiona McLeod, while Greens leader Richard Di Natale cast his vote alongside LGBTIQ advocate and Greens candidate Jason Ball at the Toorak/South Yarra library.
Empty Malvern bowlo ready for Dr Katie Allen's @Katie4Higgins Higgins function #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/dbgueYoePI
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
David King 6.43pm: Corangamite battle for Libs
Christophe Pyne says Victoria is the state most likely to swing against the government.
He said Liberal MP for Corangamite Sarah Henderson would struggle to hold her seat which went from 3.1 per cent Liberal to a notionally Labor seat after a redistribution.
But he praised Ms Henderson strong campaign.
“She’s an amazing campaigner, she’s a relentless local member, if anybody could win that seat it would be her,” Mr Pyne said. “But it’s very hard ... in a state that looks like swinging to Labor, the most of any, for her to hold that seat.”
Labor senator Kristina Keneally praised the campaign of Libby Coker, the Labor candidate for Corangamite, and said she had been getting a “good response”.
Alice Workman 6.40pm: Bad signs for Warren Mundine
Very early results show swings away from the Liberals in the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore.
The Erowal Bay polling booth, sources say there is already a nearly 16 per cent swing against Liberal candidate Warren Mundine in primary votes.
The combinated primary for the Liberals and Nationals in the seat is down 3.5 per cent.
Alice Workman 6.36pm: ALP play waiting game
Labor sources say the party will be very cautious about making seat declarations tonight, because of the high numbers of early voting.
4.7 million votes were cast before election day and around 1.2 million people are expected to postal vote.
Early voters have historically tended to be more conservative than election day voters. Postal votes also traditionally favour the Coalition.
Last year’s Victorian state election showed an increase in pre-poll votes can generate a significantly different swing in the pre-poll vote compared to the election day vote.
For this reason Labor say they won’t be making any quick decisions this evening when it comes to claiming victory or conceding.
Rosie Lewis 6.33pm: Family time for the challenger
Bill Shorten’s election night event is being held at the Grand Hyatt in Essendon Fields, in the Opposition Leader’s electorate of Maribyrnong. There are no Labor volunteers piling in yet, just journalists, security and staff.
Labor sources say its field campaign was the “largest in Australian history”, with more than 25,000 volunteers, more than one million phone calls and more than one million doors knocked.
The Labor leader is spending time in his hotel room with his family after visiting Maribyrnong (his electorate), Higgins, Deakin, Chisholm and Macnamara.
David King 6.30pm: Fraser up for grabs
The seat of Fraser in the northwest suburbs of Melbourne will be contested for the first time at this election.
It is on the western side of Bill Shorten’s seat of Maribyrnong and takes in the suburbs of Sunshine, Brimbank and Calder Park in the north.
Created as part of the redistribution, it is considered a safe Labor seat with a margin of 19.79 per cent.
The Labor candidate is Daniel Mulino, an economist and former Victorian upper house MP.
David King 6.25pm: Waleed backs 80s revival
Journalist and commentator Waleed Aly has predicted Labor will win 81 seats in the general election.
He told Channel 10 the ALP had a baseline seat count of 77-78 seats and may win several more.
He said the Coalition had been hampered by an ideological “civil war” and expected that Scott Morrison could only retain the prime ministership in a minority government scenario.
Richard Ferguson 6.23pm: Wong eyes popular vote win
Labor senate leader Penny Wong says she expects the ALP to win the popular vote but is unsure how will translate seat-wise.
“I think that we can be reasonably optimistic of winning the popular vote. The
question is whether that translates to sufficient seats,” she told ABC News.
“I would agree on this issue with Arthur (Sinodinos), that we are going to see a lot of regional variation, a lot of particular seat by seat contests which are going to be very important and I suspect we will see different swings in different parts of Australia and in different seats.”
David King 6.21pm: 52-48 prediction
uComms Pollster James Stewart says exit poll analysis predicts s 52-48 national vote for Labor.
Appearing on Channel 10 he said his numbers were similar to Galaxy exit polling.
“I’m probably pretty comfortable saying now that seat level prediction is lifting now from 79 to 80.
“We’re seeing a 2pp of 52 to Labor, so there is again a swing.”
Alice Workman 6.20pm: Libs ‘hoping for the best’
Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos says the Liberal party is hoping for the best but bracing for potential losses.
“I am hearing something... which is people are hoping for the best but bracing for potential losses because, frankly, this contest seems to be a whole series of contests across the country,” he told the ABC.
“There are generational divides, regional divides... I think this has changed the dynamic of this campaign and you have a Prime Minister who had operated more as Opposition Leader in effect, trying to drag down the front runner.”
Richard Ferguson 6.15pm: Signs good for Shorten
The Ten Network has released their exit poll with a 52/48 result for Labor, the same as the Nine News poll.
Channel Ten are predicting a four seat majority for Labor on 80 seats. Exit polls have been unreliable in the past. Real numbers should start trickling through in the next hour.
BREAKING TEN’s poll tracker and exit poll analysis suggests 52-48 national vote for Labor, suggesting a 4-seat majority Labor Govt on 80 seats. Now for the real numbers. #10YourVote #AusVotes2019 pic.twitter.com/QM5L5lVrrp
— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) May 18, 2019
Dennis Shanahan 6.10pm: ALP confident in Victoria
As the polls close word is spreading within Labor that Bill Shorten is expecting to win six seats in Victoria — enough seats to give the ALP victory from just one state if it can hold seats elsewhere.
Victorian Labor people are saying the seat of Casey — that of the Speaker, Tony Smith, — will fall. Casey, while marginal, has not been prominent as a potential Labor gain.
Alice Workman 6.05pm: Palmer’s recruitment drive
Clive Palmer is paying West Australian campaigners $24 an hour to don yellow shirts and hand out United Australia Party how-to-vote cards at polling booths.
At a polling booth in the seat of Hasluck, an international student and a person on a tourist visa told other campaigners they were being paid $24 an hour.
The UAP used Platinum Model Management to recruit promo staff to work at election booths in Leichhart, according to the Cairns Post.
“39 promo staff required this Saturday May 18. Paid … Applicants must be 18+ .. male or female welcome. Must have professional and bubbly attitudes,” the company posted on Facebook earlier this week.
Another post on the Facebook job notice board was offering paid promo work for $28 dollars an hour in Melbourne.
Sid Maher 6pm: Polls close in eastern states
Poll have closed on the east coast with exit surveys suggesting Bill Shorten will record a solid win but senior Coalition figures maintaining they can still be competitive.
After redistributions in the House of Representatives, the Coalition holds 72 seats and Labor 72 seats after the Victorian Liberal-held electorates of Corangamite and Dunkley became notionally Labor.
With the House of Representatives expanding to 151 members from 150, a bare majority will be 76 seats. However, if a party wants to field a Speaker from its own ranks it will need 7 members.
First results are expected in about half an hour.
Richard Ferguson 5.50pm: Di Natale coy on his future
Greens leader Richard Di Natale has refused to outline his future if the Greens lose senators tonight.
Senator Di Natale says his party will not pick up Senate seats tonight but is “in the hunt” in the lower house Victorian seats of Kooyong, Macnamara, and Higgins.
“The fact that we’re even talking about taking a blue-ribbon Liberal seat that the sort of seat that belongs to prime ministers and treasurers, shows the strength of the campaign we’ve run and how big an issue climate change is,” he told Sky News.
“You always look for lessons in campaigns ... a year ago people were saying the Greens would be wiped out in the Senate and we’re in a strong position to hold our team.”
David King 5.30pm: ‘The Fixer’ makes a call
Retiring Liberal minister Christopher Pyne has predicted that the Coalition will win 73 seats, the ALP 72 seats, with six Independents.
Mr Pyne appearing on Channel 10’s election night program, said he did not include Rob Oakeshott in his list of Independents.
Mr Oakeshott, who held the NSW seat of Lyne between 2008 and 2013, is contesting the NSW regional seat of Cowper.
Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari predicted that Labor would win between 82 and 83 seats and the outcome of the election would be evident before results from Western Australia were known.
Richard Ferguson 5.20pm: Exit poll boost for Labor
The first exit poll of Election Night 2019 is in and it’s Labor 52 per cent to Coalition 48 per cent.
The Channel Nine/Galaxy exit poll is recording a 13-seat win for Bill Shorten with big gains in Victoria.
The poll has recorded health, education and climate change as the big issues for voters.
As always, take exit polls with a grain of salt. But Labor strategists will be slightly buoyed by this result.
Results are in for @Channel9 exclusive Galaxy Exit Poll: @billshortenmp on track to beat @ScottMorrisonMP - ALP 52% COALITION 48% 2PP. Biggest ALP gains in VIC. 13 seats going to Labor. Health, Medicare and Climate Change top issues.
— deborah knight (@deborah_knight) May 18, 2019
Rosie Lewis 5.15pm: Tale of the tape
Bill Shorten’s camp has released data tallying the number of seats he’s visited and the days spent in each state at the end of the five-week election campaign, with his home state of Victoria getting the most love.
Giving an insight into where the Opposition Leader believes the election will be won or lost, the data reveals he spent 13 days in Victoria, nine in Queensland and NSW respectively, six in Western Australia, four in the Northern Territory, three in South Australia, two in Tasmania and just one (for the final National Press Club leaders’ debate) in the ACT.
He visited a total of 42 out of the 151 electorates, with 87 campaign events.
Reid in inner-western Sydney was the most visited marginal seat — there with five visits — while Macnamara in Melbourne, Brisbane, Griffith, Herbert, Leichhardt and Petrie in Queensland, and Stirling and Swan in WA also received more than one visit each.
In NSW his focus was on Robertson on the Central Coast and in Tasmania he visited the Labor-held seats of Braddon and Lyons twice each.
Boothby in SA and Solomon in NT also hosted Mr Shorten three and two times respectively.
Mobile users click here to view pdf
Rachel Baxendale 5.05pm: Last dash
One final push. To stop the cuts, end the chaos and deliver change, vote Labor. pic.twitter.com/E695tm1T1G
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) May 18, 2019
4.45pm: Porter critical of Labor posters
Attorney-General Christian Porter has criticised his Labor opponent in the WA seat of Pearce over campaign posters showing Kim Travers in her police superintendent’s uniform.
The WA police commissioner has asked for the posters to be removed and Mr Porter described politicising the force as “totally inappropriate”. “I raised a concern about this issue with the WA police commissioner last night,” Mr Porter said in a statement as voting continued on Saturday. “It is a well-known requirement that where WA Police officers are candidates for political election, they may not use images or vision of themselves in uniform in any campaign material or context.
“The independence of the police force is something that should always be protected and should always come before any individual advantage.” Mr Porter holds Pearce by 3.6 per cent and is facing a tough challenge from Ms Travers.
His seat is one of a number in the west that could fall to Labor. Comment in relation to the campaign posters was being sought from Ms Travers.
— AAP
Rachel Baxendale 4.30pm: Shorten swings by Deakin
Bill Shorten has dropped into a polling booth in the outer eastern Melbourne seat of Deakin, this time without the media in tow.
Labor’s candidate there is lawyer and indigenous recognition advocate Shireen Morris.
Deakin is held by Liberal Michael Sukkar by a margin of 6.4 per cent.
If the Liberals lose Deakin, they stand to lose a swathe of Victorian seats on smaller margins, including Dunkley, Chisholm, Corangamite, La Trobe and Casey.
While Trades Hall have been campaigning hard in Mr Sukkar’s seat, highlighting his support for Peter Dutton in the August leadership spill, the former assistant treasurer is also renowned for running strong campaigns, using a database of 9000 swinging voters.
In 2016 he secured a 2.5 per cent swing two-party-preferred, despite a 3.0 per cent swing against the Liberals in Victoria.
Mr Sukkar is also doing much better than many of his Liberal colleagues in terms of postal voting, which traditionally favours the Liberals, with the AEC yesterday having received 6094 postal voting forms via the Liberals in Deakin, compared with 1990 via Labor.
3.15pm: UAP volunteer ‘exposed himself to rival’
Police have issued a 62 year-old man with a fine for offensive conduct after he allegedly dropped his pants to expose himself during a confrontation at a polling booth in Sydney’s west.
Witnesses say the United Australia Party volunteer got into an argument with several people at a booth in Bankstown this morning, according to several news reports.
“He became a bit loud and called me a moron, he was being abusive and I wanted to remove myself,” a Labor volunteer called Miriam told The Daily Telegraph.
“I turned around and saw him through the fence and he pulled his pants down and unzipped, and I could see his underwear.”
The AEC reportedly contacted police, who arrived soon after to fine the man and escort him from the scene. SBS has aired footage of the man being spoken to by officers at the scene.
Joe Kelly 2.50pm: Morrison ducks leadership question
Scott Morrison has paid tribute to his local constituents for their support after casting his ballot, declaring that “home is the place that is always most dear to you.”
“This community means the world to me,” he said. “I have been so honoured to be in the homes of so many Australians over the course of the last eight months and particularly the last five weeks.”
“To come home today and to be here with my local community is a great thrill and it has been so nice to have that welcome from people as I’ve come.”
Mr Morrison also thanked all the party supporters who had volunteered their time to man polling booths.
“This is the greatest country in the world,” he said. “A day like today is one that we can celebrate how great a country this is.”
Mr Morrison also reaffirmed his central pitch to voters, declaring: “I want to back you, your aspiration, the things that actually drive you, your goals, your achievements to get a job, to buy a home, to save for your retirement.”
“Today is a choice about who you want to continue to be the Prime Minister of this country,” he said. “Tonight the votes will be counted and we will see what the outcome is. I make no assumptions about tonight. I respect this process. It is dear to my heart, the democracy of our country.”
Mr Morrison also ducked questions on whether he would stay on as Opposition Leader in the event of a loss this evening.
“This election is not about my future. It is about your future. It is about the people of Australia’s future,” he said. “It is not about my aspirations or Bill Shorten’s ambition.”
Asked how he was feeling after five weeks on the road, Mr Morrison said he felt “energised.”
Rachel Baxendale 2.20pm: Treasurer casts his vote
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this morning cast his vote in his Eastern Melbourne seat of Kooyong alongside wife Amie and their young children Gemma and Blake.
Although he has a healthy 12.7 per cent margin, the deputy Liberal leader is facing a challenge from barrister and Greens candidate Julian Burnside, independent Oliver Yates and Labor candidate Jana Stewart.
Mr Frydenberg said it was great to have the support of a loving family.
“My wife has just been amazing and my kids give me reason to live and actually motivate me to do this job, because I want to create a better Australia for my children, for everybody’s children, and that’s what I believe we have a plan for, and that’s what Scott Morrison and the team are offering at this election.”
Mr Frydenberg said the Australian people had been presented with a very clear choice at today’s election, with “a Coalition government that has delivered over 1.3 million new jobs, lower taxes, a budget that is back in the black and back on track and record funding on essential services of schools, hospitals, aged care, disability support and support for our carers, and we’ve done all of that without increasing taxes.”
“The same can’t be said about what Bill Shorten and the Labor Party are offering the Australian people at this election,” he said.
“Whatever the question is, Labor’s answer is higher taxes, $387bn of higher taxes on retirees, on income earners, on family businesses, on people who put money into superannuation, and of course people who own a home will see their home worth less under Labor’s policy and those who rent their home will end up paying more.
“So Labor will spend more, they’ll tax more, they’ll weaken the Australian economy. That is the Bill Australia cannot afford.”
Mr Frydenberg said he would be spending the day at polling booths around Kooyong, which takes in Hawthorn, Camberwell, Kew, Balwyn, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills.
“I’ve always said this election is tight and the seat of Kooyong is tight and I’ve never taken my seat for granted,” he said.
“I’ve never been complacent. I’ve worked hard to deliver for the community, as they would expect of their local representative, but at the same time you see the Greens out there proselytising about their policies.
“The fact of the matter is the Greens have a much more destructive social agenda, and that’s what the people of Kooyong and elsewhere across the state are hearing.”
Joe Kelly 2.15pm: PM casts his vote
Scott Morrison has arrived at the Lilli Pilli public school in his electorate of Cook to vote along with wife Jenny and his daughters, Lily and Abbey.
The Prime Minister stopped to take selfies and shake hands with locals before heading into the hall to cast his ballot.
Joe Kelly 2.01pm: ‘Everything we do is about your future’
Scott Morrison has released a letter to his daughters Abbey and Lily, saying that he is driven by a desire to give them a better future and explaining why he has spent so much time away from home.
“Everything we do is about your future, and because of my job it’s also about the future of thousands of families across Australia,” he said.
“As you know, this often means that I am away a lot. But it also means I get to meet other mums and dads who are trying their hardest to do what’s best for their children.
“To help them and all of the people who live in Australia I have been talking to them about how what Dad does can help them have a job, help them buy their home, support them as they try and save up for when they retire, like Mamma and Peppa and Nanna and Pa did, so they can have the best possible life, just like we want for you.”
“When we do this, and everyone does better, that means we can pay for the hospitals and schools, and the roads and look after our environment, and do what we need to do to deal with climate change.
“While I’ve been away I met a boy not much older than you who has cystic fibrosis. It makes it very hard for him to breathe. Because of the work Dad has been doing to manage the Government’s money well, we have been able to make sure Luke gets the drugs he needs to help him breathe better and play with all the other kids.
“It also means we can make sure we help people with disability, like Uncle Garry who you know is amazing.
“These last few weeks, I’ve met thousands of people who just want to have a go and do the best they can like mum and I try to teach you girls to do.
“That’s why I have this job that takes me away from you sometimes.
“But I know when you grow up you will understand; life is about what you contribute, that’s what Mamma and Peppa taught me and Uncle Alan.”
Rachel Baxendale 1.33pm: Shorten heads to Higgins
Bill Shorten has done a meet and greet with voters at Carnegie Primary School, in what must surely be the first election day visit to the affluent inner southeastern Melbourne seat of Higgins by a Labor leader since it was established in 1949.
Paediatrician-turned-Liberal candidate Katie Allen is vying to hold the seat being vacated by Kelly O’Dwyer, where the Liberals currently have a 7.4 per cent margin against the Greens, who are running LGBTIQ advocate Jason Ball as their candidate.
OL @BillShorten campaigns with @LaborForHiggins Fiona McLeod at Carnegie primary. Surely the first time a Labor leader has ever been in Higgins on Election Day. He ate the sausage right this time! #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/PYqpyKOEU3
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
Telling voters former Law Council president Fiona McLeod was an “outstanding candidate”, Mr Shorten spruiked his local credentials, having grown up in the nearby suburb of Murrumbeena.
Mr Shorten also managed to eat a democracy sausage without any mishaps, having evidently learnt from his messy attempt in Sydney on Election Day 2016.
Stop Adani protesters jostled for media attention, with one asking the Opposition Leader whether he wanted a Greens how-to-vote card.
Stop Adani protesters urged @billshortenmp to vote Greens. Shorten hit back with "How about I vote for a party that can form government?" #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/vHmBrBwGrG
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
“How about I vote for a party that can form government?” was Mr Shorten’s retort.
The visit to Carnegie will be Mr Shorten’s final campaign event for the day, before polls close at 6pm.
1.23pm: Dutton confident he can hold on
Peter Dutton is confident he can hold his marginal seat of Dickson, which he’s held for 18 years, and one of several Queensland seats that Labor hopes to win in Saturday’s federal election.
The home affairs minister is in the fight of his political life as he duels for votes with Labor candidate Ali Francis.
“Get Up and Labor have thrown a lot of mud,” he said, while talking to voters and LNP volunteers at the polling booth at Strathpine West State School. “So we’ve countered that and we’ve had a really strong campaign.” Mr Dutton told The Courier Mail he would be voting this afternoon at Albany Creek State High School for sentimental reasons.
“I vote at Albany Creek where my mum went to school,” Mr Dutton said. “I’m superstitious about change.” Mr Dutton will be hoping that voters are just as superstitious about change, although opinion polls suggest Labor leader Bill Shorten will become the next prime minister.
Mr Dutton’s seat is one of several Queensland seats held with a margin of less than two per cent, along with Capricornia (0.63), Forde (0.63) and Petrie (1.65).
He started his campaigning in his north-western Brisbane seat with a gaffe when he claimed Ms France was using her disability as an “excuse” not to move into the electorate.
Meanwhile, Ms France is just glad that polling day has arrived. “To finally be here today everyone is really excited,” she said. Further north, LNP incumbent Ken O’Dowd’s huge central seat of Flynn looks likely to fall to Labor’s Zac Beers.
Elsewhere in the state, the LNP should stave off the electoral bloodshed expected south of the border and pick up the ultra-marginal seat of Herbert following a blitz of regional electorates by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Former serviceman and 2018 Queensland Young Australian of the Year, Phillip Thompson, is tipped to win Herbert for the LNP from Labor’s Cathy O’Toole, who holds the seat by 0.02 per cent following her 2016 win by 37 votes. The Senate race will also be hotly contested, as voters hit the polling booths following Clive Palmer’s $50 million advertising splurge in his bid to return to federal parliament.
One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is also hoping to return to the Senate, but voters may be wary following the scandal over the party’s links to the US gun lobby. Greens senator Larissa Waters should have enough support to keep her seat but controversial far-right senator Fraser Anning is unlikely to win.
AAP
1.01pm: Abbott always nervous on polling day
A nervous Tony Abbott has urged voters not to reward the kind of “nasty” behaviour that saw one of his volunteers stabbed with a corkscrew on the eve of the election.
The former prime minister lamented the “ugliness” that has dogged his campaign after casting his vote alone at Forestville Public School in his Sydney seat of Warringah on Saturday morning.
He faces the fight of his political career against independent Zali Steggall, who many pundits rank as favourite.
Mr Abbott suffered a nine per cent primary vote swing against him at the 2016 election and now holds the seat with an 11 per cent margin.
Asked by a voter whether he will win on Saturday, the ex- Liberal leader said he was “not too cocky” but quietly confident.
“I’ve always been a nervous candidate,” he told reporters after casting his ballot and buying a loaf of banana bread from the school cake stall. “Sure, I’ve got a few butterflies doing loop-the-loops in my tummy today as well. But that’s the lot of all candidates because the one thing you can never take for granted is the vote of the Australian people.” Mr Abbott said it had been an “ugly” campaign with a “lot of low blows”, culminating in an attack on a Liberal Party volunteer while erecting posters at a polling booth in Balgowlah on Friday night.
The 31-year-old was allegedly stabbed in the stomach with a corkscrew, causing a minor injury. He was back at his post on Saturday, Mr Abbott said. “Lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt,” he said.
“My message is the voters of Warringah should not reward this kind of really low and vicious behaviour. I’m not saying that any particular candidate is behind this, but there’s absolutely no doubt who these people want to beat.” The alleged 62-year-old attacker, who also tore down banners, was later arrested and charged with two counts of common assault.
Ms Steggall said the incident was “appalling” but doesn’t believe the alleged culprit was linked to her campaign.
“We have checked and I don’t (believe) that they are. I would be extremely shocked and extremely disappointed (if they were),” she told reporters. “We should be respecting everybody.”
The Olympian visited a number of polling booths on Saturday before casting her vote alongside husband Tim Irving at Balgowlah North Public School. She said voters were ready for change and believes dethroning Mr Abbott after 25 years in the seat was “absolutely achievable”.
“I’ll take my read from the people I’m talking to and they are confident for change,” she said.
“People want to hear positive messages, they want to hear policies. They don’t want to see smear campaigns.” A number of posters of Mr Abbott outside the school he voted had been defaced with a Hitler moustache, which volunteers tried to rub off before polls opened.
AAP
12.30pm: ‘Misleading’ signs won’t be removed: AEC
Mandarin-language election signs in Melbourne, instructing Chinese voters how to vote Liberal, have been criticised as a “massive rort” and misleading. Luke Hilakari, the Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary, tweeted an image of the posters in the electorate of Chisholm, claiming the posters had the same font and colours as official voting information from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
MASSIVE RORT: in Chisholm Liberals have made posters in Chinese to look like AEC information that translates to "the correct way to vote is to put a number 1 next to the Liberals and number every other box.†It’s at every booth. When will the @AusElectoralCom pull them down? pic.twitter.com/nDbQJJXWDe
— Luke Hilakari (@lhilakari) May 17, 2019
AEC spokesman Evan Ekin-Smyth said the posters did not need to be taken down as they were properly authorised and no laws had been breached.
AAP
Joe Kelly 12.00pm: PM’s election day odyssey
Scott Morrison has made a 100 kilometre dash to Davenport from Launceston, arriving at the Ulverstone secondary college in the electorate of Braddon at 11am. The Tasmanian marginal is held by Labor’s Justine Keay on 1.7 per cent.
He said the seat, along with Bass and Lyons next door, would decide “not just who the next local member but who the next Prime Minister is.”
“Tasmania in significant ways is going to decide what happens in this election,” he said.
The Morrison team has visited Tasmania twice in the final week, pointing to tightening internal polls that suggest they believe they could snatch the electorates from Labor to offset some expected losses in Victoria.
He speculated the last time there was a prime minister in Tasmania on polling day was when Tasmanian-born Joseph Lyons was in office during the 1930s.
The party’s chances in Lyons were dealt a blow at the beginning of the campaign when the Liberal Party candidate Jessica Whelan was disendorsed after making anti-Muslim comments on Facebook. The decision has forced the Morrison campaign to back the Nationals
candidate Deanna Hutchinson — splitting its vote in the key seat.
“They are our candidate down there in Lyons and we want to wish them all the best,” said Mr Morrison. “I think what is interesting about Lyons is that Labor is doing so badly in Lyons — people are rejecting them because they don’t like the Labor-Greens deal, they know what it
means for jobs and their economic future,” he said.
Mr Morrison noted that “four million people have pre-polled around the country before the start of voting,” a record number of Australians.
He said he hoped they had made their early decision in favour of the Coalition. “There is a clear choice,” he said.
One voter said he would vote for Mr Morrison because Labor would take away his pension. Labor has no plans to change the pension and has announced more than a $1 billion in free dental for retirees in an effort to quell community unease around its franking credit policy.
Mr Morrison will take off from Devonport at midday and head for Sydney, where he will vote, before visiting his parents Marion and John.
Rachel Baxendale 11.40am: Higgins’ three-way tussle
It’s been a three-way festival of democracy at the Toorak/South Yarra Library in the seat of Higgins, with Greens candidate and LGBTIQ advocate Jason Ball casting his vote alongside leader Richard Di Natale, as former Law Council president and Labor candidate Fiona McLeod handed out how-to-vote cards outside.
Liberals were also out in force in the seat Kelly O’Dwyer is vacating with a 7.4 per cent margin against the Greens.
Liberal deputy leader in the Victorian upper house, Georgie Crozier has been handing out how-to-votes, alongside Monty Allen, the son of paediatrician and Liberal candidate Katie Allen, who has been urging voters to “Vote for my mum. She’s fantastic.”
3-way battle outside the Toorak/South Yarra Library in Higgins, in what is traditionally Liberal heartland. Greens leader @RichardDiNatale is campaigning hard for @jasonballau alongside @LaborForHiggins. Monty Allen is telling people to vote for his mum @Katie4Higgins #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/6I9vqAXEzj
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
Senator Di Natale cast an absentee vote for the knife-edge seat of Corangamite, southwest of Geelong, where he lives, embracing Mr Ball in front of the cameras after he had also voted.
The Greens leader talked up his party’s chances in affluent Higgins, as well as in neighbouring Kooyong, where Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is up against barrister Julian Burnside for the Greens, independent Oliver Yates, and Labor’s Jana Stewart.
“What we’re seeing now is in seats like Higgins, seats like Kooyong, Macnamara, people are saying ‘we’re fed up with the status quo and we want change’, and I’m hearing from people, I spoke to a gentleman who was 80 years old, who said, ‘look I’ve voted for the Liberals all my life, but I can’t in good conscience vote for the Liberals any more for the sake of my kids and my grandkids,” Senator Di Natale said.
Greens leader @RichardDiNatale is casting an absentee vote for his home seat of Corangamite at the Toorak/South Yarra Library in Higgins #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/xct2xQWhnh
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
“And that’s what’s happening in these electorates: lifetime Liberal voters who are saying, ‘we’ve never felt like our vote has counted here. It does for the very first time. I’m sick of the Liberal Party, their inaction on climate change, the infighting, and we’re going to vote for the Greens for the very first time.’
“The fact that we’re even talking about Higgins being a Greens-Liberal marginal seat is in itself a victory.”
Mr Ball said there was a “mood for change” in Higgins.
“This is a seat that for decades has been taken for granted by the Liberal party because they have always seen it as safe, but similarly it is a seat that has always been ignored by the Labor Party who have seen it as out of reach,” he said.
“It is the Greens who have been on the ground here for years, building a grassroots movement for change from the ground up. We have been out doorknocking, talking to voters, asking them what they care about, listening to their concerns, and what we have heard is that they are crying out for action on climate change.
Greens Higgins candidate @jasonballau casts his vote at the Toorak/South Yarra Library and gets a big hug from @RichardDiNatale #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/wh5FbNYHf7
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 18, 2019
“They are sick of the Liberal Party changing prime ministers and fighting amongst themselves instead of treating (climate change) like the crisis that it is.
“This could be a historic moment here in Higgins. If this blue ribbon Liberal seat turned green it would send a shockwave through the Liberal Party.
“It would end the climate wars, because it would tell the Liberal Party that they can no longer ignore the reality of the climate crisis that we are facing.”
Bill Shorten is expected to visit Higgins later this afternoon.
Rosie Lewis 11.29am: Labor cabinet sworn in next week if successful: Shorten
Bill Shorten has revealed he’ll swear in at least some members of his cabinet next week if he wins today’s election, after casting his vote at his local primary school.
The Opposition Leader also defended his slow campaign pace yesterday compared to Scott Morrison’s frantic criss-crossing around the country, declaring: “Bob Hawke died.”
Joined by his family, a relaxed Mr Shorten ate a sausage in bread at Moonee Ponds West Primary School and — as is tradition on the campaign trail — kissed seven-month-old baby Zoe on her head.
Mr Shorten said he’d be “seeking to swear in some people (cabinet members) soon, next week, but we’ll also have to see how the counting goes”.
“It’ll be the judgement of the voters. I am confident that Labor can form a majority government but we must wait until 6pm and then the vote counting starts and then of course two hours later in the west,” Mr Shorten said.
Practice makes perfect #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/DqO92J234W
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) May 18, 2019
“In the event the people of Australia have voted to stop the chaos, have voted for change, have voted to take action on climate change, we’ll be ready to hit the ground from tomorrow. We’ll be ready to start straight away.”
Mr Shorten refused to say if he would try and stay on as Labor leader in the event he lost the election.
“I love being a politician. I’m confident Labor can win. Is Mr (Scott) Morrison staying around and have you asked him?” he said.
Adrian McMurray 11.15am: ‘We’ll be ready to go tomorrow’
Bill Shorten says Labor will be ready to “hit the ground from tomorrow” if elected. The Labor leader spoke after casting his vote alongside wife Chloe at Moonee Ponds West Primary School in his Melbourne electorate, outlining his immediate priorities.
.@billshortenmp: If Australia has voted to stop the chaos, have voted for change, and have voted to take action on climate change, we'll be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. We'll convene the govt as soon as possible.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 18, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/guSaoAlYe1 #AusVotes2019 #auspol pic.twitter.com/vRcHOWFrwe
“I am confident Labor can form a majority government,” Mr Shorten said. “We’ll be ready to hit the ground from tomorrow. We’ll start straight away. In my first cabinet meeting, the first order of business will be to put a submission to the independent umpire to get the wages moving again for millions of our fellow of Australians.
“My first legislation will be to reverse the cuts to penalty rates. We will convene the parliament as soon as possible to start action on climate change.”
11.00am: ‘Tastes like mood for change’
What does it taste like? “A mood for changeâ€, @billshortenmp says of his #democracysausage @australian #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/DxQgY5myOM
— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) May 18, 2019
10.59am: Wentworth candidates up close
In Wentworth the key candidates are in a tight race. Campaigning about one metre apart. #ausvotes #auspoll @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/iYiEDXXCcR
— Mylee Hogan (@MyleeHogan) May 18, 2019
10.30am: Nation’s best cake stall?
I know where I’ll be going to vote today... Mount Nelson Primary School ðŸ‘ðŸ‘👠#politas #auspol #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/BIElDvwFB6
— Monte Bovill (@MonteBovill) May 17, 2019
Adrian McMurray 10.00am: Polls open in WA
Polling booths are now open around the nation, with Western Australia just opening. Victoria Laurie and Andrew Burrell write that Labor’s chances could rest on four knife-edge seats in the state, where Coalition ministers Ken Wyatt and Christian Porter are fighting to retain their seats.
Rachel Baxendale 9.30am: O’Dwyer turns out for Allen
Liberal candidate for Higgins Katie Allen has cast her vote alongside her predecessor Kelly O’Dwyer in her bid to retain the affluent inner southeastern Melbourne seat the Liberals have held since it was established in 1949.
Sea of blue at Lloyd St Primary in East Malvern (but a bit of green here too). @Katie4Higgins, @SenPaterson & @KellyODwyer all here, hoping to retain the seat the Liberals have held since 1949 #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/s2tUHgkVku
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) May 17, 2019
The paediatrician is facing a tough battle against Greens LGBTIQ activist Jason Ball and former Law Council president and Labor candidate Fiona McLeod in the seat where the Liberals hold a margin of 7.4 per cent against the Greens.
Dr Allen and her family have voted at Lloyd Street Primary School in Malvern East.
Liberals are here in great numbers, including Victorian senator James Paterson and former state shadow attorney-general John Pesutto, whose loss of the previously safe seat of Hawthorn in the November state election sent shockwaves through the Victorian Liberal Party.
Joe Kelly 9.23am: ‘Democracy sausage time’
The Prime Minister has visited a polling booth at Norwood primary school in Launceston, accompanied by Bridgette Archer, the Liberal candidate for Bass, his wife Jenny, and Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman.
The seat is held by Labor on a margin of 5.4 per cent with the Prime Minister saying it was “democracy sausage time.”
Mr Morrison said it had been “tremendous seeing the positivity” in northern Tasmania, an
area that has struggled with persistently high unemployment.
“We’ve got to keep that partnership going,” he said. Mr Morrison is expected to travel to Devenport later this morning in the Labor-held seat of Braddon.
Rosie Lewis 9.20am: The final countdown
Bill Shorten played “The Final Countdown” as he ran around the Yarra River and past Flinders Street Station as he nears the finish line of the election.
Strangers cheered him on from cars and yelled “Go Bill!”
Clearly in a good mood, the Opposition Leader returned their cheers with a thumbs up.
Adrian McMurray 9.15am: Morrison ready for ‘a long night’
The Prime Minister is starting the day in Tasmania. He says it’s going to be a “long night”, claiming he’s always believed the vote will go down to the wire.
“The system is working, people are voting. We’re one of the oldest democracies in the world, this is something we celebrate today,” Scott Morrison told Seven’s Weekend Sunrise.
"I think it will be a long night. I always said this election would be close"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 17, 2019
Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP's #ElectionDay pitch to voters ðŸ—³ï¸ pic.twitter.com/rCPtCqXIdJ
“I think it will be a long night … it will be a long night of counting. I’ve always said this election is going to be close. Five weeks ago people weren’t saying that, I’ve always known that to the be the case because Australians take their choice very seriously.”
Rosie Lewis 8.32pm: Shorten backs Turnbull campaign
Bill Shorten has backed Alex Turnbull’s campaign waged against the Liberal Party, declaring he would do the same if his dad had been treated poorly.
Malcolm Turnbull’s son has been active throughout the election campaign, supporting independents in must-win Liberal seats such as Warringah (held by Tony Abbott) in Sydney and Flinders (held by Greg Hunt) in Melbourne.
“I think the Liberal Party treated Malcolm Turnbull very shabbily. Obviously I wanted people to vote for me, not Malcolm Turnbull. But three years ago on this Saturday morning the Liberal Party said ‘trust us, vote for Malcolm Turnbull’. Then they just turfed him out like a used box of Kleenex tissues,” the Opposition Leader told Nine’s Today show.
“I can’t fault a man’s son defending his father against the people who treated him so shabbily. The Liberal Party used and abused Turnbull and if that was my dad I might do the same as Alex Turnbull.”
Polling booths, meanwhile, have opened in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Rosie Lewis 8.23pm: ‘I feel a mood for change’
Bill Shorten has kicked off election day declaring he feels confident Labor will win a majority of seats to form government after polls close at 6pm.
“All elections are close but I feel a mood for change,” the Opposition Leader told Nine’s Today show.
“Our Labor message from my united team is resonating with people, I feel a strong finish from the Labor side actually.
I’m actually confident, I’ve been in this job for six years, through the good days and the bad.
“I feel confident. I feel confident Labor can form a majority.”
Mr Shorten nominated the two “equal first” issues on the election campaign as climate change and “chaos” created by the Coalition.
Adrian McMurray 8.21am: Sharma votes
Dave Sharma, the Liberal candidate in Wentworth, is out to cast his vote. Speaking in the electorate in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, he thanked supporters for their backing but says he isn’t taking anything for granted.
Mr Sharma will face off against Independent Kerryn Phelps for the second time, after a narrow loss in the 2018 by-election that was triggered by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s resignation.
Adrian McMurray 8.00am: Polls open
Polling booths have officially opened in the eastern states. Voters in NSW, Queensland, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania can now cast their vote.
Tony Abbott is out early, already in line to cast his vote in his Sydney electorate.
7.55am: Abbott supporter assaulted
An irate man has assaulted a Liberal volunteer with a corkscrew at a polling station in Tony Abbott’s Sydney electorate on the eve of the federal election.
The 62-year-old man allegedly began yelling abuse at volunteers who were putting up campaign material outside the Balgowlah Heights Public School just after 8pm on Friday.
Read more here
Rachel Baxendale 7.48am: Police called to booths
Polls haven’t even opened yet, but already we’re told there have been three police call-outs as a result of disputes between Labor and Liberal supporters in the marginal eastern Melbourne seat of Chisholm.
Labor sources claim they arrived to polling booths they had decked out last night with their corflutes to find Liberal supporters cutting the material down.
Labor’s Jennifer Yang is expected to pick up the seat previously held by Liberal-turned-independent Julia Banks on a 2.9 per cent margin, following a gaffe-prone campaign from Liberal Gladys Liu.
Adrian McMurray 7.40am: ‘Voters have already made up their mind’
The Australian’s senior writer, Troy Bramston, has pointed to a Labor victory. While conceding you can “never say never in politics”, polling can’t be overlooked, he says.
“I think Labor has won the campaign, I think they’ve had momentum going right through … Bill Shorten did start a little wobbly, he wasn’t as sharp as his political messaging,” he told Sky News.
.@TroyBramston on the federal election: I think @AustralianLabor has won the campaign. The government hasn't won a poll since the last election and you can't ignore three years of Australian politics.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 17, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/guSaoAlYe1 #AusVotes2019 #auspol pic.twitter.com/pygo8t08fA
“But the government hasn’t won a poll since the last election. You just can’t ignore three years of Australian politics. I think the voters, a lot of them have probably already made up their mind. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were very energetic, good campaigners … they did zero-in on those Labor policies … I just can’t see the government getting over the line.”
7.38am: Your guide to Election 2019
Seats to watch, margin tower and much more.
Adrian McMurray 7.30am: Shorten begins his day
Bill Shorten has begun his day hitting the streets of Melbourne for a morning run. What about that T-shirt? Plenty of love for wife Chloe.
Polls open on the east coast in 30 minutes, an hour to go in South Australia and the Northern Territory and two-and-a-half hours in WA.
Simon Benson 6.30am: Newspoll sees Labor edge further ahead
Bill Shorten is on track to return Labor to power six years after the collapse of the Rudd-Gillard government, with an election-eve Newspoll showing a 1.9 per cent swing against the Coalition despite voters declaring Scott Morrison to be their preferred prime minister.
The exclusive Newspoll, conducted for The Weekend Australian, shows Labor heading to the polls with a two-party-preferred vote lead over the Coalition of 51.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent.
Despite the half-point break towards Labor in the final week of the campaign, party strategists on both sides believe the swing is patchy and “hand-to-hand” battles in about 20 seats will decide the election.
If applied on a uniform basis nationally, the Newspoll swing would be enough to deliver Labor a clear majority, with 81 seats in an expanded 151-seat parliament.
State and feds at loggerheads over stumping up for NDIS bill
The dispute comes amid protracted negotiations over the future of NDIS funding, with the scheme forecast to grow beyond $120bn a year in the next decade without reforms.
‘Healthy’ Harris issues challenge to Trump
Democratic White House candidate Kamala Harris is in ‘excellent health’ and has challenged Donald Trump to publish his health records.