Australian news and politics live: Australian Electoral Committee confirms votes lost after election night

The Australian Electoral Commission has issued a statement confirming that a batch of votes was lost after election night.

Votes from the Hustville polling place in the division of Barton, NSW, were counted before they were “temporarily” lost before “scrutiny” checks.

The AEC said when it became clear the votes were missing, it “exhausted numerous avenues of inquiry, ascertaining that the authorised transport officer inadvertently maintained possession of the single missing container”.

“All ballot papers were still in the recovered ballot paper transport container and were promptly returned to the counting centre and have undergone fresh scrutiny,” the AEC statement said.

“The fresh scrutiny count matched the initial count and the election in the Division of Barton was unaffected by this incident.”

The AEC said the temporary loss “shouldn’t have occurred” and that it was “deeply concerned” about the incident.

The first woman leader of the federal Liberal party could be doomed to fail as she tries to rescue the party from one of its lowest points in the wake of the election.

After a close contest against ex-shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, former deputy leader Sussan Ley on Tuesday won the top job and a place in the history books.

While the milestone has been celebrated, her victory follows a brutal May 3 vote loss that decimated the coalition’s ranks, and some warn Ms Ley could be the next victim of a “glass cliff”.

Coined by Australian National University gender equality expert Michelle Ryan and her research partner Alex Haslan in 2005, the term refers to a phenomenon where women, and those from minority groups, are more likely to be appointed to top positions during times of crisis, meaning they can be set up to fail.

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Newly elected Liberal Party Deputy Leader Ted O’Brien is not concerned about the large support Angus Taylor drew in the leadership ballot.

“What unites us more than anything is a common set of values,” Mr O’Brien told Sunrise.

“A lot of my colleagues have been talking about that very thing over recent weeks.

Whether that’s the value of freedom, equality, a fair go, that with reward, reward gets created by putting in the effort.

“You know, rights come with commensurate responsibilities. It is these common values and, I believe, Susan’s leadership that will have us united as a party.

“There is nothing wrong with a contest, by the way. In fact, we welcome it. That’s in the true tradition of liberalism, what the Liberal party room is all about.

“There was a contest for leader, a contest for deputy leader. As you will see now, we will come together, united as a party, leveraging those values that unite us.”

Global tensions and Indonesia’s developing relationship with China and Russia will likely be on the agenda when Anthony Albanese makes his first overseas trip of his second term.

The prime minister will travel to Jakarta on Wednesday, where he will meet with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

Mr Prabowo released a video of his conversation with Mr Albanese after his thumping election win, saying he was “so happy” to see him win another term.

The prime minister told the Indonesian president he wanted Jakarta to be his first visit, not Washington or Beijing.

The first state visit to Indonesia continued a legacy set up by the Howard government, which was symbolic in projecting Australia’s identity as being close to Asia, Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Gatra Priyandita said.

“Albanese is interested in maintaining that image of Australia as being independent of the United States and close to the region,” he told AAP.

“There is great interest in Indonesia’s developing relationship with both Russia and China, with Indonesia establishing some of its first naval exercises with Russia recently, so it will probably be under discussion.”

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