THE TELEGRAPH: The Australian dollar has fallen as the markets react to the prospect of a hung parliament following the weekend’s inconclusive election.
Saturday’s cliff-hanger general election has left the incumbent Labour Party with 70 seats and the Liberal-National Coalition with 72 seat in the House of Representatives – well short of the 76 seats needed to form a government.
Julia Gillard, the current Labour prime minister, and Tony Abbott, leader of the opposition are currently trying to win over the support of the three new independent MPs and one Green Party MP – each claiming to have the moral right to form government. The Greens already hold the balance of power in the Senate, Australia’s upper house.
But it could be up to 10 days before a final result is known. If neither Ms Gillard nor Mr Abbott is able to stitch together a working arrangement with the independents and Greens, the country could have to go straight back to the polls to settle the matter. >>> Mark Chipperfield, Sydney | Monday, August 23, 2010
