Unwieldy Senate likely to give Abbott a headache Prime Minister-elect: Tony Abbott. Tony Abbott's plan to secure a quick repeal of the carbon and mining taxes may prove difficult with Labor and the Greens likely to block the move in the current Senate and a slew of minor party and independent senators set to hold the balance of power in the new chamber. It means Mr Abbott's pledge to run a government of stability and "no surprises" after the unpopularity of the Labor minority period may be frustrated by an unwieldy upper house, comprising a record number of independents from July 1, 2014. With counting ongoing, there could be as many as six new senators on the cross benches in the red chamber, joining the Greens, the DLP's John Madigan and the South Australian independent Nick Xenophon. While Mr Abbott signalled pursuing "all constitutional means" to enact his promises before the election, which suggested he would consider a subsequent double-dissolution if the Senate proved obstructive, the emergence of so many unexpected micro-party senators has sparked fears that this would backfire. Strategists on both sides say a double-dissolution election would probably only make the Senate less manageable because even more small parties and independents would be elected. Illustration:John Shakespeare The incoming prime minister held telephone conversations with several world leaders, the first of which was Britain's conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. "It'll be great working with another centre right leader," Mr Cameron said. Courtesy calls have also been taken from New Zealand's John Key and Canada's Stephen Harper. Mr Abbott will fly to Canberra on Monday for further briefings and to hold his first party room meeting later in the week, where the atmosphere among successful conservative MPs is expected to be jubilant. That meeting will go through the formality of re-nominating Mr Abbott as Liberal Party leader - a technicality after every election - and is likely to be followed by a joint Coalition meeting. Mr Abbott's new frontbench line-up will also be finalised this week ahead of a formal swearing-in ceremony at Government House, Yarralumla, probably on Monday, September 16. Mr Abbott's office advises no decision has yet been taken on when Parliament would first sit. After his traditional Sunday morning bike ride, Mr Abbott began his first day after the election in a series of briefings at his Sydney office. This involved talks with the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ian Watt, Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson and Finance Secretary David Tune. He took receipt of the incoming government brief, otherwise known as the "blue book," which sets out the latest position of all government finances and imminent policy challenges. Briefings were also received from foreign affairs and defence officials regarding Syria and from other intelligence services. "Obviously, a very early item of business is scrapping the carbon tax," he told Dr Watt. There's border security, there's economic security and the people expect, quite rightly, that the incoming government will build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. Mr Abbott went to some lengths to reassure the top economic bureaucrats that he understood economic complexities, telling them "the future is all there for us." "It is important though that a new government swiftly ensure that government itself is living within its means, and obviously that will be one of the key factors in ensuring confidence is restored in our own economy when people see that the government is determined to live within its means and ensure that as far as is reasonably possible, government is working with business rather than against business," he said. Obviously, as a minister for nine years in the former Coalition government, I've had a lot of experience working with the public service. I deeply respect the professionalism in the Australian Public Service. You are experts at policy implementation and I'm confident that we will be able to successfully implement our agenda because that's what people expect of us. In his victory speech on Saturday night, Mr Abbott said he recognised the weight of the mandate he had been given. "Today, hundreds of thousands of people would have voted for the Liberal and National parties for the first time in their lives," he said before a cheering crowd. I give you all this assurance: we will not let you down.