TIL Desk/World/Canberra-Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in for another term as Australia’s prime minister today after a narrow election victory with budget repair and a public vote on same sex marriage among his top priorities. The multi-millionaire former banker’s Liberal/National coalition clung to power in closely-fought July 2 polls, with the party holding 76 seats, and potentially one more with counting still underway, in the 150-seat House of Representatives.
While enough to retain office, it was a far from convincing win for the tech-savvy grandfather, as the conservative coalition lost its comfortable majority. It has raised questions over whether he can govern successfully, with the Labor opposition increasing its lower house seats and a higher number of minor party and independent senators to contend with in the upper house.
Turnbull was sworn in at Government House in Canberra by Governor General Peter Cosgrove, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Australia, and has broadly stuck with the same team of ministers he took to the election. That means no front bench role for Tony Abbott, the man he ousted in a party coup last September.
