Peter Dutton will likely become the nation s next opposition leader after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced he would step down as he conceded election defeat.
Coalition and Labor insiders claimed conflicting signs of hope for their parties in the early results from the federal election, with neither side gaining a convincing lead due in part to the fragmented vote.
Scott Morrison said he was confident well-paid senior government bureaucrats could make cuts from a departmental budget of $327billion under a new plan to improve the bottom line.