CANBERRA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The results of Australia's general election have been finalized after the electoral commission completed a recount of votes in the tightest contest in the country.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on Wednesday declared independent candidate Nicolette Boele as the winner of the northern Sydney electorate of Bradfield.
The initial count following the May 3 election indicated that the seat had been won by Gisele Kapterian, the candidate for the center-right Liberal Party, which had held Bradfield since it was established in 1949, by a margin of eight votes.
Because the margin was within 100 votes, a recount was ordered and found that Boele had won by a margin of 26 votes, making it one of the tightest contests in Australian history.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Liberal Party is considering challenging the Bradfield result in the Court of Disputed Returns, a special jurisdiction of the High Court.
If the party does challenge the result and is successful, the court could order that a byelection be held in Bradfield.
Bradfield was the final result to be determined in the election, which was won in a landslide by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's incumbent center-left Labor Party.
Labor will hold 94 out of the 150 seats in the lower house of the 48th federal parliament, representing the equal-most ever held by any party.
If the result in Bradfield stands, the conservative Coalition, which comprises the Liberal Party and National Party, will hold 43 seats and the remaining 13 seats will be held by independents and minor parties.
In the upper house of parliament, the Senate, Labor will hold 29 out of 76 seats, the Coalition 27, the Greens party 10 and other minor parties and independents another 10.
The lack of a clear majority in the upper house means that the government will need the support of an additional nine Senators to pass legislation through parliament.
Albanese previously announced that the 48th parliament will be formally opened on July 22. ■
