Cabinet Secretary and key Malcolm Turnbull confidante Arthur Sinodinos has suggested another election could be necessary if the government has been denied a mandate and Labor frustrates its agenda.

It came as the results of Saturday's federal election went down to the wire, with the Coalition struggling to reach a majority in the House of Representatives and the possibility emerging of a hung Parliament.

"This is the trouble the country faces - in effect, at some stage, we will have to re-run this because no-one has a mandate for anything," Senator Sinodinos said.

He made the comments following Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's election night address, in which the Labor leader said the government didn't have a mandate for its budget and Labor's alternative had been endorsed.