Election 2016

[DJC]

Have to appoint a speaker, who doesn't vote.

76 seats to form government, minus 1 equals 75 votes on the floor in the lower house. 74 on the other side (or sides now) therefore you govern with a single seat majority?

The speaker has a casting vote in the event of tied vote.

The speaker is elected by secret ballot. It is convention that the speaker is from the government but there's nothing in the constitution preventing him/her coming from the opposition or cross benches.  In fact, Peter Slipper was a Liberal MP when elected as speaker during the last Labor government.  Slipper resigned from the LNP when he took the speaker's role.