Australia’s ruling conservative coalition has won a surprise victory in the country’s general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the opposition party to oust it from power. Australia’s ruling conservative coalition has won a surprise victory in the country’s general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the opposition party to oust it from power. #ausvotes ➡️ https://t.co/vgKeKKB07T pic.twitter.com/FNB9atjYNN — Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) May 18, 2019The conservatives became a rare minority government after they dumped Malcolm Turnbull for Mr Morrison in an internal power struggle last August. There was so much public confidence of a Labour victory that Australian online bookmaker Sportsbet paid out 1.3 million Australian dollars (£690,000) to bettors who backed Labour two days before the election. Mr Morrison, 51, is the conservatives’ third prime minister since they were first elected in 2013.

Source: Irish Independent May 18, 2019 14:03 UTC