The Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has declared victory in the federal election after a concession call from the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, eight days after polls closed in the tight race.

At a press conference in Sydney, Turnbull thanked Shorten for the congratulatory call and expressed hope the 45th Australian parliament would be “exciting and constructive”.

“I want to thank all of the candidates that ran for the Coalition, many have been returned; a number have not, of course, as you know. We have had a successful election.”

Turnbull cited the fact that the Coalition had received 800,000 more first preference votes than Labor, led in two-party preferred terms and had won more seats, despite the results not having been finalised.

The concession and victory speeches come eight days after the polls finished, because of extremely close results in a few key marginal seats, and six seats still remain undecided.



Turnbull said: “This is a great day today ... to thank the Australian people for the decisions they’ve taken in this election and to commit to them anew our absolutely unrelenting determination to ensure this parliament delivers good government, wise legislation, and builds on the strength of our economy so that, truly, our greatest days are yet ahead of us.”

He said ministers would be sworn in next week, and the first party room meeting would be held on Monday, 18 July.

Turnbull said there would be some changes to the ministry, because some ministers had lost their seats, but said they would not be on a “large scale”, which means a return to the front bench for the former prime minister Tony Abbott is unlikely.

Turnbull also set the way forward for two industrial relations bills that had triggered the double dissolution election. Despite a frontbench minister conceding on Monday the government did not have the numbers, the prime minister left open the option of a joint sitting of both houses of parliament to pass them.

Turnbull said the Australian Electoral Commission had yet to finish the count and determine the new senators, some of who had “open minds and remain to be convinced on the merits of either side of the argument”.

Shorten conceded that although counting had “not finished in a number of very close contests”, the Liberal-National Coalition would be re-elected either as a minority government or with a slim one- or two-seat majority.

He said he had called the prime minister to congratulate him on Sunday afternoon, and promised that “where there is common ground we will work very hard to accomplish it”.

However, Shorten warned that, although he accepted the government had the numbers to push through some elements of its platform, the opposition would “stick to its guns” on key policy areas, including its commitment to the universal healthcare service Medicare, schools funding and jobs.

Turnbull welcomed Shorten’s promise to seek to reach common ground. “It is vital that this parliament works,” he said.

“It is vital that we work together and as far as we can find ways on which we can all agree, consistent with the policies we’ve taken to the election and our political principles, that meet the great challenges Australia faces.”

He said “every member of [lower] house and Senate deserves respect because they have been elected by the Australian people”.

In contrast to earlier remarks that the incoming One Nation nationalist senator, Pauline Hanson, was “not welcome” in Australian politics, Turnbull thanked all Australians who ran for parliament, even those “who we vehemently disagree with”.

“There are always people you disagree with, and you wish had not run, but when you view participatory democracy as a whole it works very well,” he said.

He thanked the crossbench independent MPs Bob Katter and Cathy McGowan, who offered to support his government with confidence and supply; Andrew Wilkie, who promised not to deny those; and Nick Xenophon for “constructive discussions”.

He said they would have access to all the information and resources they needed to play their role in the parliament.

At the latest count, the Coalition had won at least 73 seats in the 150-member parliament, with leads in three more to form a majority and a chance to overtake Labor on postal and absentee votes in up to three more.

Shorten called for bipartisan consideration of electronic voting to shorten the wait for future election results, which Turnbull backed.

Shorten said Turnbull would need to renegotiate the Coalition agreement with the rural and regional party, the Nationals, and criticised emerging divisions between the conservative and liberal wings of the Liberal party.

“I don’t envy the job [Turnbull] has ahead of him – he has to corral all the diverse forces in his party,” he said.

In particular he pointed to great disharmony within the Liberal party about proposed changes to superannuation and said Turnbull might have to reconsider the retrospective application of a $500,000 limit on non-concessional superannuation contributions.