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May 20, 2019

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Morrison savors miraculous win in Australia poll

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 May 20, 2019 | Print Edition

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked his fellow Pentecostal churchgoers yesterday after a miraculous election victory that defied years of unfavorable opinion polls and bruised a Labor opposition that had been widely expected to win.

Morrison鈥檚 Liberal-led conservative coalition has won or is leading in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. Slightly more than three-fourths of the roughly 17 million votes have been counted.

A jubilant Morrison hugged community members after an early Sunday service at the Horizon Church in Sydney鈥檚 southern suburbs, from where he was first elected to parliament in 2007.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to be a prime minister and serve in that capacity unless you first are a member of your local electorate,鈥 he said.

Morrison told raucous supporters late on Saturday, who had earlier seemed resigned to defeat, that he had always believed in miracles.

The result drew comparisons with Republican Donald Trump鈥檚 victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were among the first world leaders to congratulate Morrison.

鈥淐ongratulations to Scott on a GREAT WIN,鈥 Trump said on Twitter before calling the Australian leader.

Jacinda Ardern, the progressive prime minister of neighbor New Zealand, also called to congratulate him saying that Morrison 鈥渦nderstands us.鈥

Opinion polls in Australia had all pointed to a Labor victory. So strong was the expectation the government would fall that one betting agency even paid out bets on a Labor win days before the election.

Morrison, who emerged as an unlikely leader after Liberal Party infighting last year, cast himself as the candidate who would work for aspirational voters and the tactic seemed to strike a chord.

If the coalition fails to secure at least 76 seats, it will need to rely on support from independent politicians, such as maverick conservative Bob Katter or small parties to govern.

Labor conceded defeat even with several seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives too close to call. Its leader, Bill Shorten said he would step down.

Senior Labor figures began lining up yesterday for the leadership after the center-left party lost what some experts called an 鈥渦nlosable鈥 election.

Labor campaigned on a platform of reducing inequality through tax reform, higher wages and better public infrastructure but Shorten, a former union leader, was never seen as a popular leader.

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