But this election has blurred the lines, with winners becoming losers and losers looking more victorious than the winners.

An observer in Tasmania may be confused by who actually won government.

Front pages after election day depicted red balloons and festive looking Labor supporters – with the party now holding four out of five Tasmanian lower house seats.

Bill Shorten’s victory tour of the Launceston mall this week looked prime ministerial, as did his visits to other electorates around Australia where Labor won.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first visit to the state since just clinging to government, which in other circumstances should be a celebratory visit, is bound to be awkward. 

The Liberal Senate team is not yet finalised, and is likely to be a team of four.

Mr Turnbull would need to be flanked by Eric Abetz, newcomer Jonathon Duniam, David Bushby and Stephen Parry during any visit.

Those Senators will also need to become the face of the government in Tasmania – a position once held by the Three Amigos.

Senator Parry, who is the Senate president, may be asked not to return to the role in order to step up as Tasmania’s representative in cabinet.

Despite Tasmanians rejecting the party in Tasmania, it would be foolhardy to ignore the state in the cabinet.

The Coalition may have got its slim majority, but they are far from victorious.

They’ve significantly reduced their power in the lower house and will have an even more unworkable Senate.

They’ve lost three Senators nationally, at this stage, and have gained some unpredictable crossbenchers.

And all after dragging us all through the longest election campaign in a generation. 

All the rigmarole around Mr Turnbull taking the leadership has returned little rewards for the party – it’s hard to imagine Tony Abbott doing worse.

The Senate Mr Turnbull will get is not the one he wants. 

And the Greens, who are normally winners after conservative governments reign, are in the loser pile.

Despite a swing, they failed to win another lower house seat, they lost a Senator, and the future of Senator Nick McKim still hangs in the balance.

As a former state party leader Senator McKim should have been a shoo-in, and Tasmania is the motherland of the Greens.

Perhaps the party took it for granted that two senators would get over the line without much work, and put their efforts elsewhere in Australia. 

Disillusioned voters are taking their votes elsewhere.

Another notable winner is Tasmanian Labor Senator Lisa Singh – who was pegged as a loser after being given the unwinnable sixth spot on the Senate ticket.

But she’s made the impossible possible, and with smart below the line campaigning, is likely to come out a winner.

Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck, who was the state’s only cabinet winner, is now likely to join the losers

Meanwhile, Labor seems to be the real winner.

Who would have thought that Bill Shorten, who has had popularity points as low as a record of 14 just six months ago, would come so close to becoming prime minister. 

Governing will be hard for the Coalition, and that’s always a bonus for the opposition.