by Matt Walsh
CANBERRA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is "very confident" his Liberal-National Party coalition can secure a majority government, despite election analysts predicting that a hung Parliament is still the likely result of the tightly-contested federal election.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister traveled to Queensland to meet with independent MP Bob Katter, the most likely crossbencher to side with the coalition in the event of a hung Parliament, but according to Turnbull, it might not be necessary to secure his support.
Turnbull said he was confident of forming a majority government once the remaining votes in tight seats are counted, and his visit to Katter in Queensland was purely to 'cover his bases.'
"I am very confident that we will form government," Turnbull told the press on Thursday.
"We will form a majority government in our own right but I am talking to the crossbenchers as I would do regardless of what our own numbers in the House amounted to."
Tasmanian independent minister Andrew Wilkie agreed with Turnbull, despite stating he would not support the PM in the case of a hung Parliament.
Wilkie said it was "increasingly looking like" the coalition would retain governance with a majority.
"It's looking more and more like Malcolm Turnbull will have either a clear majority of seats or be in a position, perhaps not with my support but with the support of other crossbenchers, to form government," Wilkie told the press on Thursday.
But a hung Parliament - in which no major party secures enough seats (76) to secure a majority government - is still the most likely result according to election analysts, but Turnbull may only need the support of one or two independents to form a minority government if current trends continue.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the government has sewn up 73 seats - three short of forming a majority government - while there are five seats in doubt.
Despite the Prime Minister's claims, ABC election analyst Barrie Cassidy predicted the coalition would still fall short of the 76 seat mark.
"You need 77 (seats) because you have got to provide a speaker but 76 is the figure we are working on," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"When you've got five doubtful (seats), the coalition could get to 77 but 75 is more likely."
ABC colleague Antony Green was equally as hesitant to declare a majority government was probable; he said he did "not particularly" expect the government to win 76 seats in its own right despite a number of electorates showing large swings to the coalition thanks to the arrival of postal votes.
Despite the uncertainty, Green said he expected a final election result to be known before the weekend.
"I would think (we would know before the weekend). I think nearly everything will be counted," he told the ABC.
"Everything they have on hand should be counted by Friday. What you're waiting for next week is postal votes from quite remote parts of the country."
Despite the result looking favorable for the Turnbull government, the Labor caucus is set to meet on Friday, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten expected to be reaffirmed as Labor leader.
After he managed to orchestrate major swings against LNP-held seats, he is tipped to retain the Labor leadership despite whispers earlier in the week that Anthony Albanese could challenge the incumbent leader.
