(Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's coalition will “definitely” be returned to power and there's “no doubt” he will continue as premier following the July 2 election, according to Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The broadcaster projects the coalition will win Forde, near Brisbane, Queensland. That means 74 seats have now been called by ABC for the Liberal-Nationals with 79.5 percent of the vote counted. It has ruled 66 seats in favor of the opposition Labor Party and five for the smaller parties and independents. The remaining five are still too close to call.
Malcolm Turnbull
Turnbull and his allies will “most likely” win the 76 seats needed in the House of Representatives to form a majority and may claim as many as 77, ABC reported. Still, there's a small chance the coalition may only get 75 seats and will require the support of an independent lawmaker to form a government.
“In that sense, they have won, it's just simply a matter of whether they have got a majority or not,” ABC election analyst Antony Green said.
Turnbull said on Friday that it's important for the vote count to be completed. That may take until July 15, the deadline for postal votes to be received.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vivek Shankar in Sydney at vshankar3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, Simon Harvey
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