After suffering an unexpected nationwide 3.4% swing and losing 11 seats to Labor, with at least six more in doubt, Turnbull has begun contingency planning for the minority government he has long argued would be chaotic and disastrous for the nation.

While he insisted he was “quietly confident” of a majority Coalition government, the prime minister – in a sharp contrast to his election campaign warnings about the dangers of a vote for minor parties – emerged on Sunday afternoon to promise to “work constructively” with the crossbench to deliver a stable government “without division or rancour”.”