SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia\u2019s Labor Party will form the country\u2019s next government on Monday, as unprecedented support for the Greens and climate-focussed independents ended nearly a decade of rule by the conservative coalition.<\/p>\n
Centre-left Labor remains four to five seats short of a majority of 76 in the 151 seat lower house with about a dozen electorates too close to call, television channels reported on Sunday. Labor may need the support of independents and smaller parties to return to power for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he will be sworn in as the 31st prime minister on Monday along with four senior party members, before heading to Tokyo to attend a \u201cQuad\u201d summit on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan and India.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do want to change the country. I want to change the way that politics operates in this country,\u201d Albanese told reporters after leaving a cafe in his Sydney suburb, where he was seen taking pictures with supporters.<\/p>\n
Several world leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and neighbouring New Zealand\u2019s Jacinda Ardern, congratulated Albanese on his win.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Scott Morrison\u2019s Liberal Party was toppled in several urban strongholds by independents, mostly women, who campaigned for more action on climate change, integrity and gender equality. The independents and a strong showing from the Greens also ate into Labor\u2019s vote share in many seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like now maybe is the time for us to do something different, and if we can get action on climate change, then that\u2019s going to be quite exciting,\u201d voter Mark Richardson in Sydney\u2019s Wentworth electorate told Reuters. Wentworth is among the traditional Liberal seats snatched by an independent this election.<\/p> Morrison, who will step down as leader of the Liberal party, was shown in TV footage at his church on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve given us a great foundation from which we could walk … (in) what has been a very difficult walk … over the last almost four years,\u201d a visibly emotional Morrison told fellow worshippers.<\/p>\n Official results could take several days, with the counting of a record 2.7 million postal votes to begin Sunday afternoon, two days earlier than prior elections.<\/p>\n If a hung parliament emerges, independents will hold considerable weight in framing the government\u2019s policies on climate change and the efforts to set up a national anti-corruption commission.<\/p>\n Deputy leader of Labor Richard Marles said the party could still get enough seats to govern on its own.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a bit of counting to go, and we are hopeful that we can achieve a majority in our own right,\u201d Marles told ABC television.<\/p>\n Barnaby Joyce, the leader of the Liberals\u2019 junior partner, the National Party, said Australia needed a \u201cstrong government,\u201d which must be supported and also held to account.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you have to go from a good government to a good opposition,\u201d Joyce told Sky News on Sunday.<\/p>\nRECORD POSTAL VOTES<\/h2>\n