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Australia poised for new government
AFP - Tuesday, September 7
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SYDNEY (AFP) - – Australia's political leaders Monday neared the end of more than two weeks of negotiations to form a minority government after elections produced the first hung parliament since 1940.
The three "kingmaker" independent MPs who hold the balance of power went into talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, saying they were hopeful of a decision on Tuesday.
"My guess is that ... we'll make a determination probably tomorrow morning," Tony Windsor, one of the three, told public broadcaster ABC.
Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and maverick Queenslander Bob Katter have been wooed assiduously by Gillard and Abbott since August 21 polls failed to give either side a majority, sparking the worst political paralysis in decades.
Gillard's Labor party currently has 74 seats, two short of a lower-house majority, while Abbott's Liberal/National alliance is one behind on 73, making the three independents' votes crucial.
The deadlock caps an unusually dramatic period for Australian politics after Gillard ousted elected prime minister Kevin Rudd in June, becoming the country's first woman leader, and called elections just three weeks later.
On Monday, signs of a split emerged between the three kingmakers, who have been negotiating as a bloc, raising the possibility of a 75-seat dead heat between Gillard and Abbott which would trigger fresh polls.
"There's three of us with a full spread of political views and policy views," Oakeshott told reporters in Canberra.
"It does look like we may have to make some choices about whether we stick together to get stable government or not," he said.
But the trio did succeed in forging a deal with both major parties on parliamentary reform following their meetings with Gillard and Abbott.
The reforms include an independent speaker of the lower house -- a position now filled by a member of the ruling party -- and changes to prime ministerial questions which will limit queries to 45 seconds and responses to four minutes.
At the beginning of each sitting day, and prior to prayers, the speaker will also make an "acknowledgement of country" -- a recognition of the historical Aboriginal ownership of the land.
Oakeshott said the reforms were designed to give the 150 lower-house representatives a greater say, reducing the dominance of the prime minister and key cabinet ministers in parliament.
"I think that is a positive change for parliamentary democracy in Australia," he told a press conference.
Analysts say even a government with a tiny minority will be vulnerable to collapse, threatening the reputation for stability that has helped Australia's mining-driven economy become the "wonder from Down Under".
Gillard's dismissal of Rudd and poor campaigning were blamed for her reverse at the election, where the environment-focused Greens party won a record share of the ballot.
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