I t took a couple of days, but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has finally started to properly acknowledge the Federal election result.
His immediate response had lacked humility as he lashed out at Labor's scare campaign over Medicare.
But on Tuesday he hit the right note when he said he accepted full responsibility for the election which has left the coalition and his leadership in a parlous position.
The Prime Minister said he would work hard to regain Australians' trust.
"There is no doubt that there is a level of disillusionment with politics, with government and with the major parties, " he said. "We note that. We respect it."
Nothing less than showing that respect will be required if he is to have any hope of reclaiming lost ground.
The coalition's central campaign was lacklustre and devoid of appeal to ordinary Australians, an opinion given voice in a local newspaper by Liberal MHR for Canning, Andrew Hastie, who spoke of a "disconnect" between the voters and what the party was campaigning on.
While the Prime Minister's backers could well argue that had the party gone into the election with Tony Abbott as leader there is every chance its vote would have been worse, Mr Hastie hit the nail on the head.
Reciting the campaign mantra of jobs and growth and innovation were motherhood statements.
While nobody could argue against the sentiment, it is difficult to see what it meant in practical terms for most voters.
It was also interesting to note the triumphal tone struck by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as the results came out. 
There is no doubt Mr Shorten out-campaigned Mr Turnbull and did incredibly well to put Labor in the contest. Yet he should not get cocky.
Many Australians chose not to vote for either of the major parties. 
Just over 32 per cent of voters cast their ballot for the Liberal Party and the ALP had a primary vote of a little over 35 per cent.
Both major parties suffered from and continue to face the deep voter disenchantment which has swept across the world's western democracies.
Both need to acknowledge the vote for smaller parties and independents.
Australians voted for these smaller players in huge numbers and that needs to be respected.
A good start would be to listen to the everyday concerns which convinced many Australians to vote as they did in an uncertain world. 
A way must be found to provide the stable government which the country so badly needs.