Election contests heat up as seats go down to the wire

Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie is locked in a three-way battle to retain the seat of Flinders. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

Vote counting continues in close contests more than a week on from the federal election, with the fate of three seats still in doubt.

The next parliament will have fewer crossbenchers with an independent and three Greens MPs losing their seats.

While Labor will have increased numbers, re-elected Kooyong independent MP Monique Ryan said the government still needed to be scrutinised in parliament.

"My job as an independent is to hold the government to account, to act on the things that Kooyong and other electorates care about," she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

"It's a question of coming to the government with well-developed policy which is in everyone's best interests and convincing the government that they should act on that.

"People like myself, who feel really strongly about the need for quick, effective and judicious action on climate change have to continue to push (the government) on that."

Re-elected member for Kooyong Monique Ryan says she is determined to hold the government to account. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)

As of Tuesday afternoon, Labor holds 93 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, with the coalition on 42.

The Greens, minor parties and independents have 12 seats between them.

Three seats remain too close to call: the Victorian-based seats of Calwell and Flinders and the Queensland seat of Longman.

The Australian Electoral Commission said the complexity of the vote count in Calwell meant it was difficult to determine the final two candidates in the seat, but Labor is set to be one of them.

A similarly complex count was under way in Flinders, between Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie, Labor's Sarah Race and independent Ben Smith.

Just 196 votes separate coalition MP Terry Young and Labor challenger Rhiannyn Douglas in Longman.

One of the most recent seats to be called was Monash in Victoria, where Liberal Mary Aldred recorded a slight swing to the coalition.

"There's been a long count between the election and now, but it is a huge privilege and I intend to get cracking from day one, on making a strong stand on behalf of my community," she told ABC Radio.

"An electorate like Monash, it's a very diverse electorate. It's a huge electorate ... you need to know every blade of grass in that community, and that's how I ran my campaign."