Election 2016: what happens in a hung parliament?
The 2016 federal election appears to be inching towards a hung parliament. What would would party leaders be faced with then?
PT1M20S 620 349- Election 2016: news, analysis and video
- Live election coverage, polls and results
- Analysis: Did Andrews cost Shorten the election?
- Liberal MP takes aim at Daniel Andrews
Labor is in danger of losing two of its traditional strongholds in Bill Shorten's home state, where the threat of the Greens and a bitter stoush over the CFA could help Malcolm Turnbull return to government.
By 10pm on Saturday night, Labor had a swing of 3.25 per cent nationally, but in Victoria – where Labor hardheads were hopeful of some gains – the swing towards the party was only 1.8 per cent.
![Opposition leader Bill Shorten voting in his federal seat of Maribyrnong with wife Chloe.](/web/20160704064957im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/2/z/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gpx2l6.png/1467501466790.jpg)
Opposition leader Bill Shorten voting in his federal seat of Maribyrnong with wife Chloe. Photo: Justin McManus
With the election likely to fall in the Coalition's favour, the ALP was at risk of losing the suburban seat of Chisholm vacated by former speaker Anna Burke, with Liberal candidate Julia Banks slightly ahead with almost half the vote counted.
In the inner city, embattled MP David Feeney was also under serious threat from Greens candidate Alex Bhathal, with both sides declaring the contest too close to call.
Labor's chances of winning back the marginal Coalition seat of Corangamite had been dented early in the count – with incumbent Sarah Henderson consolidating her position since the last federal election - but the party had more luck in the regional seat of McEwen, where incumbent MP Rob Mitchell retained his seat against controversial Liberal opponent Chris Jermyn.
The results suggest that the CFA stoush - which exploded mid-campaign when Premier Daniel Andrews tried to push through a controversial union deal – caused some angst throughout the state, but the damage was not as severe as initially feared.
Nonetheless, Mr Andrews already faces some recriminations within federal Labor ranks, with some colleagues privately furious that the firefighters' dispute proved to be such a distraction in Victoria, making it harder for Mr Shorten to campaign on his own turf and giving Mr Turnbull ammunition to claim that Labor is beholden to the unions.
In other results on Saturday night:
- The seat of Murray vacated by Liberal MP Sharman Stone was likely to fall to the Nationals for the first time in years, with former footballer Damian Drum holding 55 per cent of the two-party vote by late Saturday night.
- The Liberals appeared set to hold on in the marginal seat of Deakin, and narrowly hold on in La Trobe and Dunkley.
- Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer was likely to retain the seat of Higgins despite a double-digit swing to the Greens.
- Labor was sweating on the seat of Melbourne Ports, where sitting MP Michael Danby was polling behind the Liberals on first preferences.
- Former 3AW radio host Derryn Hinch claimed victory for a Victorian spot in the Senate.
- Labor MP Lisa Chesters retained her seat of Bendigo with a favourable swing, while in the suburban seat of Bruce, Julian Hill looked set to replace his former boss Alan Griffin, who has held the seat since 1993.
- The ALP was fighting off another fierce inner city battle with the Greens in the seat of Wills.
- Independent MP Cathy McGowan held on in the seat of Indi against former Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella.
After a marathon eight-week campaign, it was widely expected that Saturday night's election would be won or lost in key battlegrounds across western Sydney and Queensland, with Victoria widely seen as fairly safe territory for Labor, which held 19 out of 37 seats across the state.
However, the fact Mr Shorten could not make any strong gains in his own state is likely to spark some soul-searching within Labor ranks, with some federal sources already turning on Mr Andrews for escalating the CFA dispute in the middle of the campaign.
"It was a frustration because it stopped us from getting our message across and setting our own agenda in Victoria," a campaign hardhead told Fairfax Media on Saturday night.
Others have instead sought to blame Mr Shorten, claiming the federal leader demanded that the state government resolve the issue after the UFU threatened to doorknock against them in Wills.
About 600 union firefighters ended up campaigning against the Coalition in the marginal seats of Isaacs, Dunkley, Menzies, Corgangamite, Deakin and La Trobe.
Speaking earlier in the day, Mr Shorten tried to play down the impact of the stoush, which led to the resignation of a key minister, the CFA's chief executive and fire officer, and the sacking of the entire CFA board.
Asked if Mr Andrews was invited to his election party, the Opposition Leader replied: "All my state Labor colleagues are completely welcome" before accusing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of "exploiting volunteers as political pawns". However, Mr Andrews did not attend the Opposition Leader's election function, opting to celebrate in the seat of Bruce instead.