Independents draw up roadmap for leaders

24 Aug 2010, 11:01 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Three rural independents who could determine who forms government are preparing a roadmap to power which will be presented to Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

Three rural independents who could determine who forms government are putting the finishing touches to a roadmap to power which will be presented to both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter met in Canberra on Tuesday for the first time since Saturday's election.

The trio of rural MPs plan to reconvene early Wednesday and meet for a few more hours before holding a press conference around mid-morning (AEST).

They'll then address the National Press Club at lunchtime before possibly meeting with the prime minister and opposition leader.

Mr Windsor said the independents were putting together a document for the leaders that will contain "a range of issues and questions".

AAP understands it will essentially be a roadmap setting out the path Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott should follow in their bid to pull together a minority government.

Mr Windsor said Tuesday night's meeting was productive.

"There's a general consensus between the three of us that we want to try and work together as much as possible," he said.

"(But) the three minds are tuned into different aerials."

The New England MP stressed the negotiations were going to take a while.

"Tomorrow afternoon, if indeed we do meet with them (Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott), don't expect anything definitive out of that," he said.

"The meetings we're having now are just the start of the process, not the finish."

The coalition currently has 72 seats to Labor's 71. The Greens' Adam Bandt has won Melbourne and Denison in Tasmania looks like going to another independent, Andrew Wilkie.

The coalition's position improved on Tuesday afternoon following counting of votes in two key seats.

The government's chances in Hasluck, in Western Australia, were dealt a blow with the first batch of postal votes breaking the way of the Liberals' Ken Wyatt.

Mr Wyatt has extended his lead over sitting MP Sharryn Jackson to 533 votes.

There was more good news for the coalition when the Australian Electoral Commission added the Victorian Labor seat of Corangamite to its doubtful list.

Mr Abbott on Tuesday said he wanted a "kinder, gentler" federal parliament, proposing a "serious role" for key independents who could help him form a minority government.

Mr Oakeshott has a wish list of changes for the current system, suggesting the uncertain election outcome showed the community had rejected party politics.

He knows it's "cheeky" but his ideal is a system that moves beyond the current model of government to incorporate the talents of a wider pool, such as a Malcolm Turnbull in a Gillard government or a Kevin Rudd under Mr Abbott's leadership.

But inviting Labor MPs into a coalition cabinet is a bridge too far for Mr Abbott.

"I'm a pretty magnanimous man, but that might be going a little too far," he told reporters.

He is promising, instead, to be serious about parliamentary reform.

"I make the point that I think we can have a kinder, gentler polity," Mr Abbott told reporters.

"I think we can be a more collegial polity than we've been."

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