AN avalanche of explanations, recriminations, mea culpas and self-congratulations descended on a long-suffering electorate as PM Malcolm Turnbull finally notched victory for a battered and bruised Coalition.

Turnbull accepted “full responsibility”, whatever that might mean.

Despite the doomsayers, it seems a wafer-thin majority can actually make for good, productive government. Turnbull knows that he needs sensible centrists such as Cathy McGowan and Nick Xenophon to pass measures to shore up the economy and respond to grassroots concerns.

No doubt Standard and Poor’s warning that our AAA credit rating is now under threat will assist in marshalling his troops. And if he takes Labor’s policy options seriously and develops the kind of co-operation and compromise pursued by minority governments around the world, he will isolate and discredit the political aggressors at both ends of the spectrum. This includes bellicose Bill Shorten who is sounding very like the spurned Tony Abbott of 2010.

THE ACT poll also came into focus, but not in a good way for the Libs. The party might well have to bear the cost of Federal campaigning that pictured CM Andrew Barr alongside Shorten and urging voters not to “risk a Labor double whammy”. This is on top of an earlier AEC ruling that had already reduced their funding entitlement. But local leader Jeremy Hanson can now claim to have a direct line to his party brethren on The Hill. And he’ll be hoping against hope that Turnbull is so busy he’ll stay out of trams!

BARR pressed home his international airline initiative with a flashy visit to NZ for chats with Kiwi PM John Key and claims that direct flights to Wellington will add $45 million to the ACT economy annually. But since it also adds $44 million to the Kiwis’ treasury, does that mean it’s really only worth $1 million to Canberra? (only kidding).

WHILE there, he signed a “sister city” relationship with Wellington accompanied by the usual sibling shindig. It was oddly appropriate since Barr and Key look like peas from the same pod.

FASCINATING by-play in Labor’s leadership stakes. It’s now clear that Anthony Albanese is waiting in the wings for the right moment to strike. And Shorten knows it. He pointedly left him out of his fulsome “thank yous” on election night. Albo was equally careful in declining to challenge Shorten – who garnered a record low Labor primary vote – “at this time”. Tanya Plibersek is also keeping her powder dry.

OVERSEAS, Hillary Clinton can hardly believe her luck as Daffy Donald deflates. Britain is now certain to have either Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom as its Prime Minister. Could Tanya be third leg in the female triumvirate?

BRITAIN’S Chilcot Report again exposed the appalling judgement of their male equivalents in the invasion of Iraq. John Howard was pictured as “the patsy from Down Under” and Paul Keating said he “should hang his head in shame”. It was a timely reminder that the man who Turnbull calls “the gold standard” and George Bush dubbed “the man of steel”, was one of only two Australian PMs to have lost his own seat.

Oh, and Tony Blair accepted “full responsibility”.

robert@robertmacklin.com