ably the two best prime ministers to miss out on the job. Costello was denied the job by John Howard, who went on to lead the Liberals to a crushing defeat, while Hewson lost the 1993 election on a Labor Medicare scare campaign after bravely campaigning on introducing the GST that Howard later achieved. A Medicare scare campaign has again loomed large as a factor in the outcome of the federal election this week – an election that has not resolved the legislative gauntlet of non-government senators and has left the House of Representatives in the balance. The election result has also left both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten fending off leadership speculation, adding to the massive uncertainty surrounding the weeks and months ahead. In this election, Labor campaigned strongly and had more effective, though perhaps not always honest, media messaging and an aspirational, if economically incomprehensible, policy platform that would inevitably increase debt and leave the federal budget with mounting deficits. Turnbull was fighting this election on two fronts – one against the Labor Party, Greens and a legion of other independents and minor party candidates, and the other against an internal column within in his own Coalition who continue to mourn the party room defeat of Tony Abbott and an uncompromising conservative agenda. A fight on two fronts, and it showed in a cautious campaign that avoided tough issues and tried to sell superannuation changes and a cut in company tax that would have doubtfully persuaded a single vote in a single seat for the Coalition but lost a swag of votes. Companies don’t vote and the proponents of the company tax cuts were already going to vote for the Coalition. However, after hearing for months about large companies, and especially multi-nationals, minimising their tax, and with the confusion over the proposed superannuation changes, uncertainty about other tax changes and cuts to services that directly affect them, few voters would have championed the company tax cut. In any event, the election has left Australia with a compromised government that will find it difficult to implement its policies, including the company tax cuts and budget savings measures – or any changes to industrial relations. The prospect of a government held to ransom by the opportunism of the Opposition, minor parties and independents is certain to have an adverse impact on business and consumer confidence and is likely to subdue spending in the retail sector, especially if the Australian economy is buffeted by any tremors in global markets. There is not a lot of ammunition left for the Reserve Bank to stimulate sluggish economic activity and recent surveys indicate households are under increasing stress with around 52 per cent having to pay utility bills on credit cards, which they are unable to pay off each month. The consumer confidence is arguably the most critical issue for retailers stemming from the election result, however, there are also implications for legislative changes. A Turnbull government will now be unlikely to be able to effect any changes to the Fair Work Commission or industrial relations laws and may even struggle to deliver on its commitment to strengthen competition laws by amending the effects test. Access exclusive analysis, locked news and reports with Inside Retail Weekly. Subscribe today and get our premium print publication delivered to your door every week.