A jubilant Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday vowed to get straight back to work after a shock general election victory, which delivered the country three more years of conservative government.
The opposition Labor Party, meanwhile, began another bout of post-election soul searching while starting the task of finding a new leader, after Bill Shorten stood down on Saturday night following an emphatic defeat in a poll many saw as unlosable for his party.
The center-left Labor, which has governed Australia for only 38 of its 118 years as a federation, was rated an overwhelming favorite, both in opinion polls and with odds-makers, to topple the Liberal-National coalition government after its six years in power.
Instead, Mr. Morrison who became prime minister only last August when a contentious internal party vote dumped Malcolm Turnbull as its leader swept the coalition to victory with what is likely to be an increased representation.
