Good morning. Labor has won at least 75 seats in the lower house and we could learn today if it reaches the 76 necessary for a majority. Barnaby Joyce will find out his political fate this morning. And Jai Hindley has become the first Australian to win cycling’s Giro d’Italia.
Barnaby Joyce is fighting to keep his hold on the Nationals’ leadership as a new poll shows three in five Australian voters – or two in five Coalition voters – see him as an electoral weakness. Joyce’s future as leader of the junior Coalition party will be decided at a party room meeting at 10am, with rival candidates David Littleproud and Darren Chester making the case for a refresh in the wake of the Coalition’s electoral rout. A poll of 1,404 adults nationwide, conducted immediately after the election, suggests negative sentiment about Joyce could have been a significant drag on the Coalition’s overall electoral performance. “Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce” was rated as a weakness by 60% of all respondents and a strength by just 14%, according to the survey conducted by the Australia Institute, a progressive thinktank. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese has vowed to form a constructive relationship with parliament’s expanded crossbench and has warned against underestimating Peter Dutton as opposition leader. In a wide-ranging interview on Sky News, Albanese reflected on the “great responsibility” of serving as prime minister but said he would try to “keep it real”. Labor has won at least 75 seats in the lower house as counting continues today in Deakin, Gilmore and Macnamara.
