Election 2016: Comment & Analysis
No Christopher, the Coalition has nothing in common with Hawthorn
Michael Gordon 11:45 PM Let's re-wind the clock. It's the Tuesday before polling day and Tony Nutt, Malcolm Turnbull's campaign director, rings his Labor counterpart with an offer George Wright could not refuse: a final leaders' debate on prime time TV.
Delicate balance needed by both leaders
![Leader Bill Shorten and deputy Tanya Plibersek are applauded as they arrive for the caucus meeting on Friday.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/1/j/r/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq1r03.png/1467985026876.jpg)
Mark Kenny 5:38 PM So Bill Shorten thinks this government will not last and that Australians will be back at the polls within 12 months.
Is this the best thing to ever happen to Turnbull?
![Malcolm Turnbull now has the opportunity to be the Prime Minister he said he would be. Will he rise to the challenge?](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/0/f/d/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq01u9.png/1467947880443.jpg)
Jack Waterford 1:18 PM ​A day may come when Malcolm Turnbull will come to see the solid kicking he received from voters last week as the best thing that ever happened to him.
Britain's next prime minister will be a woman
![Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May won the highest number of MP votes in the latest ballot.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/t/z/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq14fx.png/1467937925408.jpg)
Latika Bourke 10:32 AM Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going.
Turnbull boxed in by narrow win
![Mark kenny dinkus](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/y/f/y/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq0utg.png/1467953467593.jpg)
Mark Kenny 7:46 AM Technically it remains unclear whether the beleaguered premiership of Malcolm Bligh Turnbull will continue uninterrupted. Practically however, it is now virtually inevitable.
Election re-run would be pushing the envelope
![<p>](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/a/7/0/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzmfo.png/1467793882714.jpg)
Norman Abjorensen The current uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the July 2 election has sparked speculation of a possible re-run later this year to resolve what appears to be a looming deadlock. This would take Australia into uncharted territory.
Crisis talk unwarranted and unhelpful
![John Warhurst](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/p/s/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzgqx.png/1467792531361.jpg)
John Warhurst Talk of a potential constitutional and/or political crisis following this federal election result is at best premature.
Retaining government in sight for Turnbull as slow count progresses
![Malcolm Turnbull is closer to forming government as counting continues.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/z/2/v/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq05kr.png/1467957979763.jpg)
Latika Bourke Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going.
Comment: Why Queenslanders felt Hanson spoke for them
![The author condemns Ms Hanson's inflammatory slogans against fellow Australians.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/6/2/i/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gq00mb.png/1467891383484.jpg)
Murray Watt There's no doubt that some of her supporters share her racist beliefs. However, there are many others who just feel incredibly anxious about their falling living standards.
The campaign's other big lie
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzcx3.png/1467978796106.jpg)
Peter Martin There's no evidence that South Australia or any other state will "benefit enormously from the free trade agreements the Coalition has signed", in large part because the Coalition has ensured there isn't.
Morrison and Bishop undermine PM's mea culpa
![Michael Gordon](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/z/a/8/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzivp.png/1467789226684.jpg)
Michael Gordon Listen to Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop and the explanation for the Coalition's disastrous election result is all down to Labor telling a lie about Medicare and the gullible voters falling for it.
Coalition pulls ahead as key conservative backs in Turnbull-Bishop leadership
![Malcolm Turnbull addressing the media on Tuesday.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/z/2/v/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzbwm.png/1467934545837.jpg)
Latika Bourke Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going.
We got it wrong. How did we do it?
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a radio interview on 5aa from the Press Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra ...](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/o/b/n/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzatm.png/1467867263408.jpg)
Matthew Knott The media may quibble with some of your criticism. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen - and reflect.
Better late than never: PM strikes leadership note
![Malcolm Turnbull cannot afford to become even a perceived loser.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/z/2/v/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpz6hu.png/1467712674467.jpg)
Mark Kenny Malcolm Turnbull remains admirably upbeat about his chances of forming a majority. Why? Perhaps he knows something the rest of us don't?
Turnbull's response will be the making of him - or his undoing
![Michael Gordon](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/z/a/8/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpz53q.png/1467771680043.jpg)
Michael Gordon On his third attempt, Malcolm Turnbull has delivered the words he should have conveyed on Saturday night.
Moir's View: Turnbull's progress
![Turnbull's progress.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/y/d/1/d/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpynjt.png/1467791984288.jpg)
Alan Moir Alan Moir's view on the aftermath of the 2016 Federal Election
Vindicated Peta Credlin unleashes ferocious attack on Turnbull's 'hapless bedwetters'
![Peta Credlin predicts Coalition chaos on same-sex marriage during an appearance on Sky News on Monday night.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/t/5/f/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpyghp.png/1467663891522.png)
Latika Bourke Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going.
Instability's hardly normal, Gerry, but not all bad
![Gerry Harvey would like Canberra to make life difficult for his overseas competitors.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/6/z/r/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpyec0.png/1467637372290.jpg)
John Birmingham A billion dollars doesn't make you smart. It just makes you rich.
Labor offers stability Coalition can't deliver
![Nick Xenophon may well help decide who forms the next government.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/s/2/d/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpycd8.png/1467696371210.jpg)
Peter Martin In a complete reversal of rhetoric during during the campaign, Labor has emerged as the party most likely to guarantee stability after the election.
Hanson stirs nostalgia, spices it with hate
![One Nation's comeback kid Pauline Hanson.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/y/b/l/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpy9dx.png/1467843559475.jpg)
Tony Wright "When I was growing up," said Pauline Hanson, "[Australia had] 13 million people.
Doughnut nation: the election that left a hole
![Malcolm Turnbull's future will be determined by whether he can put together a reform agenda. .](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/u/w/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxzga.png/1467691446911.jpg)
Mark Kenny If success has a thousand fathers, this government is an orphan.
The wooing: Turnbull discovers pain
![<i>Illustration: John Shakespeare</i>](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/o/h/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxwvz.png/1467614841380.jpg)
Tony Wright Prime Minister (presumptive) Malcolm Turnbull lies on his office couch, an ice-pack on his brow and a small bank of telephones assembled at his side.
Federal Election 2016: Recriminations begin
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during his post-election speech.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/h/6/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxptx.png/1467689586353.jpg)
Latika Bourke Every Monday to Friday I'll be delivering a personally-curated newsletter. Call it the double espresso of news – the morning news kickstart for busy people who want to know what they need to know before they get going.
Where Pauline Hanson's support comes from
![Pauline Hanson at Jamboree State School in Brisbane on election day.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/w/x/6/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxp87.png/1467589840812.jpg)
John Harrison Southerners are outraged at Pauline Hanson's re-election.
Will Turnbull be a lame duck leader in a poisonous Parliament?
![Michael Gordon](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/z/a/8/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxi1f.png/1467771680043.jpg)
Michael Gordon One Coalition insider rates the PM's chances of surviving at one in 10.
Turnbull hits out and misses the mark
![Mark kenny dinkus](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/y/f/y/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxg4r.png/1467927711410.jpg)
Mark Kenny The well-known Turnbull temper boiled pretty close to the surface on election night after his endlessly repeated offer of strength and stability was thrown back in his face by an unimpressed electorate.
Amid the howling, Turnbull becomes Gillard
![Malcolm Turnbull](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/8/g/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxcg1.png/1467535168250.jpg)
Tony Wright If you awoke on Sunday to a feeling of deja vu, you weren't imagining it. Six years ago Australia awoke to something spookily similar.
'Mediscare' worked because voters were scared
![The fake Medicare card obtained from a manufacturer in China.](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/a/c/p/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxbhw.png/1467582996815.jpg)
Peter Martin Scare campaigns only work when they reinforce or add to what is already known.
Comment
How we failed to see the obvious
![](/web/20160708140615im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/3/9/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxbee.png/1467785616742.jpg)
Peter Martin So convinced were we about a Coalition win that we paid scant regard to what was happening before our eyes.