Australia PM Gillard woos 'kingmaker' MPs
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Australian Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard, courted one of five minority lawmakers key to resolving the nation's political stalemate on Saturday, as polling showed their voters favoured her rival.
Ms Gillard held private talks with independent MP, Mr Andrew Wilkie, a former soldier and spy who resigned over Australia's role in the Iraq war, hoping to win his support for her to form government.
The Prime Minister and conservative rival Mr Tony Abbott both failed to take a majority at last weekend's elections, resulting in the nation's first hung parliament in 70 years.
Both leaders are desperate to curry favour with Wilkie, Greens MP, Mr Adam Bandt and three rural independents in order to secure the 76 seats needed to take power, with Abbott holding 73 seats outright to Ms Gillard's 72.
Wilkie said the talks had focused on the need for gambling law reform, an issue he is passionate about, while Ms Gillard had stressed the strength of her ruling Labor party's position.
"She feels confident that she can form a government. She's very very keen to get the support of all the independents so she has a little bit of a buffer. She's very keen to get a resolution very quickly," Mr Wilkie said.
Ms Gillard did not answer questions as she left the meeting, telling reporters only that it had been a "good discussion".
The outspoken Wilkie famously blew the whistle on the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and his 2003 revelations sparked a political storm.
He is widely regarded as the most unpredictable of the minority candidates, having warned that he may not side with either major party but he confirmed Saturday that he would not hold the country to ransom or force another election.
"The most important issue for me is the public interest and that we get very very quickly a stable, competent, ethical government," he said.
The talks came as polling showed the majority of voters who brought rural independents Mr Tony Windsor, Mr Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter to power wanted them to side with Abbott's Liberal/National coalition, not Ms Gillard.
A Newspoll of 1,396 voters in the trio's electorates found more than 50 percent supported Abbott, compared with about 35 percent for Gillard.
Wilkie said the independents had an "important responsibility to the national interest" and should be looking beyond their own electorates.
"It's not about grandstanding, it's not about pork-barrelling, it's about quickly helping to stand up the next government of this country and making sure that it lasts the whole three years (of its term)," he said.
Formal negotiations are slated to start on September 3, after postal and provisional votes have been counted and the definitive result is known.
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