Australians were facing the prospect of a hung parliament yesterday after both sides in a tight election race failed to secure the majority 76 seats needed to govern in their own right. Last night, Labour and the Liberal Party-led coalition were each trying to woo the four independents and one Green who secured seats in Canberra's House of Representatives.

With three-quarters of the vote counted, Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labour, which began the day with 88 seats, had lost a confirmed 18 seats, after strong swings in the states of New South Wales and Queensland to the coalition fronted by Tony Abbott.

Analysts were predicting Labour to finish with 72 seats, the coalition 73, the Greens with one and
independents four.

Welsh-born Gillard, a 48-year-old former lawyer with a common-law hairdresser spouse, came to power in an internal coup in her party on 24 June, during the first term of her predecessor, and almost immediately called an election to confirm her mandate.

Abbott, a London-born married 52-year-old former Catholic seminarian with three daughters, barely gained the endorsement eight months ago of his own Liberal Party, which has led Australia for most of the past 60 years.

Abbott went on the attack in a speech in Sydney yesterday, saying that because Labour had lost its majority it should step aside. "We stand ready to offer the Australian people stable, predictable and competent government," he said.

This election was coloured by Gillard's surprise seizure of the helm from former prime minister Kevin Rudd after a series of poor opinion polls. Abbott, whose socially conservative views alienate many women voters but whose supporters say he can better empathise with Australian families, had said Gillard's government did not deserve a second chance because it dumped the elected prime minister.

Issues vary across the country, but asylum seekers, healthcare and climate change are hot topics nationwide.

Another issue brought to the forefront yesterday was the presence of the Australian military in Afghanistan, where two soldiers were killed the day before.