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Independent Australian MPs meet to address political deadlock

Three key independent Australian MPs are meeting Tuesday in Canberra to address the political stalemate after this weekend’s elections which failed to produce a clear winner. The three are being courted by both Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labor party and the Liberal/National coalition, neither of which have won enough votes to govern.

pictured with members of his party
pictured with members of his party Reuters
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Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter have been thrown into the spotlight, with Labour and the coalition scrambling to shore up support to form a government. They are all from rural constituencies and have agreed to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" on any discussions with the major parties.

Officials continue to count absentee ballots, with preliminary results giving Labor 72 of the 150 seats of the lower chamber, and the coalition 70. It could take up to a week to count votes to determine the four remaining seats.

The Greens party had a strong showing, with its lone MP, Adam Bandt, likely to side with Labor.

"The make-up of the parliament is looking interesting to say the least," said Oakeshott, who has raised the idea of a mixed government lead by coalition leader Tony Abbott, with former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd as foreign minister.

Abbott has positioned himself as the leader of a stable government, criticising Labor for running a chaotic campaign.

All three independents have expressed a desire for stable government, but also for better broadband Internet, which could favour Labor, which has promised to wire 93 per cent of homes with high-speed fibre-optic cable.

"We can make this work. We've had a little bit of crisis in recent years so let's try it a different way and I think we'll find that maybe it will be a better way," said Windsor.

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