By our political correspondent
Melbourne: Australia is all set to have a hung parliament for the first time in 70 years after voters dealt Labor a crippling blow, with large swings to the Coalition in New South Wales and Queensland and a record primary vote for the Greens. Labor showed a good performance in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania. With counting still not over the Coalition has 72, Labor 70, Greens 1 and independents 4.
The magic number of 76 seems impossible with counting on for three seats. Independents and the lone Green are likely to play a decisive role in the formation of the new government which could take a few more days.
Earlier, people across Australia yesterday voted for a new Parliament. About 1.8 million early votes had been cast by Wednesday, according to the Australian Electoral Commission — 12.5 per cent of all voters, increasing the chances of a delayed outcome if the election goes down to the wire. Of those, 811,190 were pre-poll votes, up almost 230,000 on the 2007 election, and 951,829 were postal votes, up 145,000.
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