With all due respect Hasbeen, Turnbull is not of the left. He believes in free enterprise, in business, in innovation and all the rest. He is a liberal, as is the name of the party he leads and he was the most popular politician at this election.

Calling him an an incompetent dill won't get you far, as clearly his record is far superior to your record, so perhaps he is simply alot smarter than you are and his record proves it. Sorry but if you throw insults, expect them to be returned if it can be shown to be true.

Well said Yabby. Turnbull can be called many things, but 'dill' is definitely not one of them. This label says more about the name-caller than the recipient.

Both Turnbull and Shorten need to address the problems that have led to the second coming of Hansen, and of other fringe-dwelling political parties, if they want to do better in the next election.

We can't disregard the voters who settled on Hansen and the One Nation party, by calling them bigots or fools. These people are afraid, and Hansen positively oozes fear and insecurity, as she spreads her message of hatred re Asians and Muslims.

Hatred can't be beaten by more hatred, so Turnbull and Shorten need to front up to the issues people like Hansen are afraid of, and deal with these problems head on...

Susie, well said.

Given that the final outcome is yet to be decided, I put my view should it be a hung parliament. Who should form government? I am not a great fan of Shorten's, although I have warmed to him a little during the long election campaign, he presented himself much better than Turnbull.
The Coalition looks totally divided, with the Nationals way out there, the hard line conservatives digging in with Abbott, and the liberal Liberals in the minority behind Turnbull. Can this divided rabble govern with a minority, or even a slim majority, no way! The Labor party looks far more united behind Shorten. For that reason, should a hung parliment eventuate, I believe the cross benchers wll have no other choice other than to help Labor form government

Hasbeen,

I have to agree with Yabby and Suse here.

You say...

"No country can survive for long with 2 left parties, & that is what we would have had if Turnbull could have secured authority in the party."

How is the Coalition "left"?

What you are saying is that you wish the Coalition was further right than it is....Abbott, Bernardi, Abetz, et al "right" is what you'd like.

The thing is that if Turnbull had had the authority to pull them closer to the centre instead of attempting to go to an election bluffing its way through on its former record, they probably would have fared better.

The question is now, can Mal summon the authority he needs to truly lead the party - or will he be overrun by the hard right of the party seeking to reassert its dominance.

And it may not be over yet, folks...

"It's the nightmare scenario: both the Coalition and Labor fall short of a majority and then can't secure crossbench support. With neither side able to govern, Australians are forced back to the polls."

OH GOD NO. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

Yes. If neither side can convince Governor-General Peter Cosgrove that it can command the confidence of the House of Representatives, then a fresh election could become the only means of breaking the deadlock.

Bill Shorten reckons the Prime Minister is weighing the idea: "There is a very real chance that Malcolm Turnbull is considering calling a snap election in the mistaken belief that this will sort out his own problems."

WHAT A HORRIBLE THOUGHT. HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE?

Not in Australia, no

We've only had two hung federal parliaments in the past 100 years, in 1940 and 2010. On the first occasion, Robert Menzies was able to cobble together a minority government, although the independents later switched sides and gave government to John Curtin. Julia Gillard did better, taking her minority government full-term – with a little "help" from Kevin Rudd at the end there – despite its reputation for chaos.

But this time could be different. With both Turnbull and Shorten ruling out deals – and given the ideological gulf between that small clutch of lower house crossbenchers – there is potential for true deadlock.

OKAY, GIVE IT TO ME STRAIGHT: HOW LIKELY IS A RE-RUN?

All right, take a deep breath. While it is one option on this messy table – Malcolm Turnbull confidant Arthur Sinodinos confirmed as much on election night – at this stage it remains a mercifully unlikely outcome.
The chief reason being it's in no-one's interest. Turnbull wouldn't want to risk falling even further – he's made enough strategic miscalculations already and has probably lost his appetite for such high-stakes gambles."

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-the-doover--just-how-likely-is-a-snap-second-election-20160705-gpyvxk.html#ixzz4DZbKXFp

Hi Poirot,

It is clear to me, in the event of a hung parliament, there is absolutely no requirement for a fresh election now, and any politician who calls one without proper consultation will be dead meat. Providing the cross benchers, particularly The Greens and NXT, give an undertaking not to do the dirty trick the Liberals/DLP pulled in 1975 and block supply in the Senate. In the lower house I think Bandt, Sharkie and Wilkie can work with Labor, providing there is some room for negotiation when required. Even the conservative Bob Katter can be reasonable. Lambie could be cooperative in the Senate, give her some space. Give it a year if its all too hard then call an election.