Australian Liberal, Labour parties begin talks to forge government alliances

Negotiations kicked off Sunday between the coalition led by Liberal Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the opposition Labor Party headed by Bill Shorten, following the possibility that neither would win the majority required to rule after Saturday’s elections.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the Labor Party now has 71 seats and the LiberalNational Coalition has 67 seats, out of the total of 150 seats at stake in the Parliament’s Lower House, which requires one party to have 76 seats in order to govern alone.

Winning one seat each in the polls were independent candidates Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan, the Greens party, the rural Australian Party founded in 2011 by politician Bob Katter and the Xenophon Team established in 2013 by senator Nick Xenophon.

Results for seven seats are yet to be declared, and may be revealed next week or delayed up to one month, according to the Commission.

Despite the provisional results putting Turnbull behind Shorten, the Liberal leader showed confidence he would get the required majority to rule as early votes and postal ballots tend to favor his party.

He confirmed to journalists he has begun testing the waters for possible alliances with an eye on forming the government, saying the coalition always aims to working constructively with all members of the Parliament.

Meanwhile, Shorten, said to be doing the same, has ruled out any deal with the Greens, reiterating Labor’s pledge not to reach any coalition arrangement with them, though the two sides have been natural allies in the past.

In their initial statements, the independents Wilkie and McGowan have also dismissed participating in either a Conservative or Labor government.

Broadcaster ABC reported lawmaker Bob Katter is drafting his list of demands and expecting to speak with representatives from other minority parties which have garnered seats.

Senator Xenophon confirmed to Sky News channel he has spoken to Turnbull postelections but not with Shorten, though he claims he gets along with both.

The possibility of a minority government assuming power is reminiscent of the 2010 scenario, when Labor’s Julia Gillard won the same number of seats in polls as the conservatives but was named prime minister after she struck a deal with the Greens and several independent candidates.

Minority governments remain a rarity in Australia, a country accustomed to regularly alternating conservative and Laborled regimes.