Canberra

AUSTRALIA faces days of political paralysis as vote counting continued after a weekend election that failed to produce a clear winner and raised questions over Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's future.

Both Mr Turnbull's Liberal-National coalition and the Bill Shorten-led Labor opposition are currently short of the 76 lower-house seats needed for a majority government. As the Australian Electoral Commission began on Tuesday to count postal votes, talks are under way between the major parties and independent lawmakers who may hold the balance of power.