The six regional areas that helped the Coalition win the election, & more in News in 5.

-With AAP.

1. The six regional areas that helped the Coalition win the election.

Much of the focus following Labor’s shock election loss has been on Queensland, but shifts against the ALP came from regional areas across the country.

The ABC have listed six key electorates that showed a trend against Labor.

Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon narrowly survived a major swing right in Cessnock, a mining community near Newcastle, NSW. The swing on primary votes was around 20 percentage points and One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds clearly took votes from Labor, the ABC reported.

Grafton, NSW, saw Labor drop about 15 percentage points, which meant Nationals MP Kevin Hogan easily kept his seat.

Labor’s Justine Keay lost the seat of Braddon, in Tasmania’s north west, less than a year after her by-election win. Keay’s primary vote was down about 10 percentage points across the six booths in Burnie. The swing to the Coalition was five per cent.

In Queensland, Labor candidate Belinda Hassan lost thousands of first-preference votes in Mackay. Some northern booths saw swings of more than 20 percentage points.

In central Queensland, Rockhampton swung heavily towards sitting MP Michelle Landry and One Nation received 17 per cent of the vote delivering a swing against Labor of more than 10 percentage points.

Ipswich in Brisbane’s south west was considered a safe Labor seat, but booths returned double-digit swings against the ALP. Labor’s immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann held on, though his margin is now just 1.5 per cent.

Western Australia had been expected to rally for Labor but the swing did not eventuate.

Labor senator Penny Wong said Queensland had been tough for federal Labor for a “fair while”.

She laid part of the blame on Queensland-based billionaire Clive Palmer, who spent an estimated $60 million on advertising for his United Australia Party.

“Mr Palmer’s relentless advertising, which essentially set a pox on everybody, is much more difficult for a party like ours,” Senator Wong said.

“These are not the numbers the Labor Party wanted to see… Labor was going into this election expecting to form government early,” former Labor senator Sam Dastyari said.

Labor leader Bill Shorten stood down on Saturday after conceding to the coalition and is reportedly backing deputy Tanya Plibersek to take over as leader. She will formally announce on Monday that she will also contest the leadership after receiving significant support from colleagues, senior Labor figures and rank and file Labor members.

Mr Shorten’s former leadership rival Anthony Albanese has thrown his hat into the ring, talking up his authenticity, listening skills and capacity to unite different tribes.

Labor national president Wayne Swan says the party will be taking a close look at its policies and campaign strategies after its failed attempted to form government.

“The result is deeply disappointing and our party has a responsibility to analyse the result and to respond maturely,” he said in a statement.

“The party has got to dust itself off, rethink and reorganise.”

2. US media compares Scott Morrison’s win to Donald Trump’s.

Across the globe, @ScottMorrisonMP’s victory is being compared to @realDonaldTrump’s 2016 presidential win. #auspol #AusVotes2019 #ElectionResults2019 https://t.co/ZNBjnjkqku

— The Australian (@australian) May 18, 2019

Scott Morrison’s “miracle” election win has been cheered by conservatives in the US and compared to Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 presidential win when polls had predicted he would lose.

“Congratulations to Scott on a GREAT WIN!” Trump himself tweeted while US cable TV news channel Fox News described the Australian prime minister’s triumph as “a stunning victory”.

American political activist Pamela Geller trumpeted “the people are taking back their countries from the totalitarian left”.

“SHOCKING Australia Election Results: Australia’s Conservative Party Seizes Stunning Win: The Trump effect. Polls were wrong…. again,” Ms Geller, founder of The Geller Report and president of Stop Islamisation of America, wrote on Twitter.

Axios’ Amy Harder told readers the election result indicates “Australia will continue to closely resemble the Trump administration’s positioning on climate change.

“Climate advocates had said this election would be a referendum on the current leadership’s positions on climate change, the results suggest that either voters don’t care as much about the issue compared to others or they prefer less aggressive measures, as the current leadership is pursuing,” Ms Harder wrote.

Mr Trump had spoken with Mr Morrison and congratulated him, the White House said.

“The two leaders reaffirmed the critical importance of the long-standing alliance and friendship between the United States and Australia, and they pledged to continue their close cooperation on shared priorities,” it said.

The New York Times described how “the conservative victory also adds Australia to a growing list of countries that have shifted rightward through the politics of grievance, including Brazil, Hungary and Italy.

“Mr Morrison’s pitch mixed smiles and scaremongering, warning older voters and rural voters in particular that a government of the left would leave them behind and favour condescending elites.”

Pre-election polls had tipped the ALP would win the federal election and leader Bill Shorten would be the next prime minister.

“I have always believed in miracles,” Mr Morrison told supporters on Saturday night.

3. A Sydney man is accused of murdering his wife who was found near a hospital.

A 60-year-old man is behind bars charged with fatally stabbing his wife before she was found near a hospital in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The 47-year-old woman died shortly after she was found unresponsive with stab wounds on Barker Street, near the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, at about 8.45pm on Saturday, police say.

Mourad Kerollos, her husband from Panania, was arrested nearby and charged with murder on Sunday.

Police earlier described the incident as “domestic” related.

He did not apply for bail and it was formally refused at Parramatta Bail Court later in the day.

Kerollos is expected before Central Local Court via video link on July 18.

4. Rugby boss Raelene Castle knew she had to sack Israel Folau after parental pleas.

Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle knew she had to sack Israel Folau after receiving “hundreds” of messages detailing how harmful his controversial social media posts were.

Castle said she had to stand up and send a strong message after speaking to parents whose children idolised the Wallabies star, but were also struggling with their sexuality.

Folau’s four-year, $4 million contract was torn up on Friday in the wake of him posting a biblical quote on social media which said homosexuals would go to hell unless they repented.

It was the second time Folau had sparked controversy through his social media accounts, he was also reprimanded for a similar post in 2018.

“Having been through the first one where we sat down and were very mature on both sides and recognising that everyone deserves to make a mistake … having had all those conversations he (Folau) said he understood where the line was,” Castle said.

“He still went ahead and posted, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t post again.

“The posts are harmful, they are very harmful. I’ve had hundreds of people contact me about the specifics of the harm, it made them relive how they found it really difficult to come out.

“Parents of young children have contacted us saying ‘I’ve got a 15-year-old who really looks up to Israel and is struggling with his sexuality’.

“Those things are really difficult to hear and make it very real,” she said.

Castle said there was no attempt from either party to make peace through an apology or sanction that would have kept Folau in the game.

“We needed to stand up and say we’ve got values, we’re prepared to stand by them and we’ve got a player that’s not living by those values,” she said.

“It (the post) was causing harm and was against our values. We believe it was a direct breach of contract and we had no choice but to seek termination.”

5. Theresa May to present ‘bold’ new Brexit package.

Brexit: Theresa May plans ‘bold offer’ to get support for deal https://t.co/cfYzsBNeH5

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) May 19, 2019

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May says she will present a “new bold offer” to MPs with “an improved package of measures” in a final attempt to get the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement Bill through parliament.

After failing three times to get parliament’s approval for her Brexit deal, the government will now put the bill, legislation which will enact that deal, before parliament for a vote in early June.

“Whatever the outcome of any (indicative) votes, I will not be simply asking MPs to think again,” May wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper.

“Instead I will ask them to look at a new and improved deal with a fresh pair of eyes – and to give it their support.”

The newspaper said May would consult cabinet colleagues on proposed changes to the withdrawal agreement aimed at securing cross-party support.

It said the cabinet would also consider plans for a series of indicative votes to establish which proposals can command a majority in parliament.

Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent in a referendum to leave the EU, it remains unclear how, when or even if the country will leave the European club it joined in 1973.

The current deadline to leave is October 31.

Brexit talks between May’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party collapsed on Friday hours after May agreed to set out in early June a timetable for her departure.

On Saturday Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said the government should put a promise to hold a further public vote on the face of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to break the Brexit impasse.

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