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Australian Conservative Party Defies Polls, Clings to Power

NAIL BITER

Australia’s ruling conservative party had been trailing the Labor party in pre-election polls.

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David Crosling/AAP/Reuters

Australia’s center-right ruling coalition defied opinion and exit polls to cling to power in a nail-biting election on Saturday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who assumed office in an internal coup within his party last August, will return to power despite every single poll in the country predicting he would be usurped by the Labor party. The Associated Press reports that confidence in a Labor victory was so high that the online betting firm Sportsbet had paid out $900,000 to Labor bettors two days before the election after 70 percent of wagers backed Labor. Voting is mandatory in Australia, and 16.4 million people registered to vote.

Read it at Associated Press

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