Crossbenchers past and present believe Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is a more skilful negotiator than Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and would be better equipped to navigate the fractured and volatile new Senate.
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Turnbull's problems have only just begun: Shorten
Even if the Prime Minister forms majority government he will have to deal with the right wing in the Senate & his own party says Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Vision ABC News 24.
While it appears Mr Turnbull will be able to hold on to government after a number of cliffhanger seats starting to go the Coalition's way on Wednesday, he will find it very hard to legislate even with a lower house majority.
While the final Senate result will not be known until later this month, it is expected to boast more crossbenchers than ever before, with populist Nick Xenophon and right-wing firebrand Pauline Hanson set to be dominant forces.
The Coalition is likely to end up with fewer than 30 seats - down from 33 - meaning it would need the support of most, if not all of the likely nine or 10 crossbenchers to pass bills Labor and the Greens oppose.
That makes Turnbull's task significantly harder than it was in the last Parliament, in which he needed six of eight independents.
According to ABC election analyst Antony Green, Labor is expected to end up with 27 seats - up from 25. It could count on Greens support for much of its legislation, meaning it would only need a handful of crossbenchers on side.
Dumped Queensland independent Glenn Lazarus believes Mr Shorten would have a better chance at success.
"Bill Shorten is definitely the better communicator and negotiator. He was always very respectful and considerate," Mr Lazarus told Fairfax Media.
"Initially Malcolm made an effort, however, when he felt that he wasn't going to get his own way he became quite angry and nasty.
"I certainly found Bill to be more trustworthy than Malcolm. Malcolm lied to my face and I lost respect for him as a result."
Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie, who was re-elected on Saturday, agrees: "It's Labor by a mile."
She believes Turnbull has proven no better at negotiating than his predecessor Tony Abbott, who had a notoriously frosty relationship with the Senate crossbench he described as a bunch of "ferals".
"Neither is any good because the Liberal Party's decisions are dictated by their political donors. The amount of cash that is paid will determine how much influence you are given," she said.
That's a sentiment shared by a number of crossbenchers contacted by Fairfax Media, although not all would go on the record.
Some said it was the Liberal leadership team in the Senate - led first by Eric Abetz and then George Brandis - that was responsible for getting noses out of joint. Some spoke more highly of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann but there was across-the-board praise for the Labor negotiating team of Penny Wong, Stephen Conroy and Sam Dastyari.
Even Libertarian David Leyonhjelm, who has not yet conceded defeat despite a poor showing for his Liberal Democrats at the weekend, has previously said Labor were the better negotiators than the Coalition that he is more closely aligned to.
"I think there's a cultural difference between Labor and the Libs in terms of their willingness to negotiate," he said.
"Labor's used to it, they negotiate everything. The Liberals usually take their tablets of stone from the leader and go out and promote them."