Sydney:
The leaders of Australia's two major political parties began negotiating power deals with independent lawmakers on Sunday after the nation's closest election in decades failed to deliver a clear mandate to govern.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who remains caretaker leader, said it was clear that no party had won a majority of parliamentary seats in Saturday's poll that delivered an extraordinary voter backlash against her centre-left Labor Party after a single three-year term.
Labor haemorrhaged votes to the environment-focused Greens party as the government was punished for shelving plans to charge major polluting industries for every ton of carbon gas that they emit.
Gillard and Tony Abbott, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, said they had initiated talks with three independents in the House of Representatives as well as the Greens party in a bid to secure their votes in the House of Representatives.
Neither revealed what they were prepared to offer in the confidential negotiations.
Both Labor and the Liberal-led coalition have conceded that neither is likely to hold the 76 seats needed to form a government in the 150-seat lower chamber.
She suggested that Labor would be better able to get its legislative agenda through the Senate, where major parties rarely hold majorities.
The Greens' record support in the polls increased the party's Senate seats from five to nine, giving them the leverage to become kingmaker in deciding which major party controls that chamber.
But Abbott, who doubts the science behind climate change and rules out ever taxing polluters for their greenhouse gas emissions, said Labor had proved unstable even with a clear majority.
Bitter recriminations within Labor over the election result have begun, with at least one lawmaker who lost her seat blaming her colleagues' dumping of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for Gillard.
Some lawmakers have blamed the result on a series of damaging media leaks against Gillard during the election campaign which are suspected to be the work of disgruntled Rudd loyalists.
Independent Tony Windsor said he planned to talk with fellow independents Bob Katter and Rob Oakeshott on Sunday to decide whether to negotiate a power deal with the major parties as a group or individually.
They were the only independents in the last Parliament and are former members of the Nationals party, which is a coalition partner of the Liberals.
But all have said they are open to supporting a Labor minority government.
Independent Member of Parliament Rob Oakeshott appeared to agree.
No Australian government has had to rely on the support of independent lawmakers to rule since 1943.
With more than 78 percent of the vote counted, the Australian Electoral Commission said Labor had won 70 seats and the Liberal coalition 72.
Most analysts agree that the coalition is likely to finish with 73, one seat ahead of Labor, leaving an unstable minority government led by Abbott and supported by three independents.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who remains caretaker leader, said it was clear that no party had won a majority of parliamentary seats in Saturday's poll that delivered an extraordinary voter backlash against her centre-left Labor Party after a single three-year term.
Labor haemorrhaged votes to the environment-focused Greens party as the government was punished for shelving plans to charge major polluting industries for every ton of carbon gas that they emit.
Gillard and Tony Abbott, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, said they had initiated talks with three independents in the House of Representatives as well as the Greens party in a bid to secure their votes in the House of Representatives.
Neither revealed what they were prepared to offer in the confidential negotiations.
Both Labor and the Liberal-led coalition have conceded that neither is likely to hold the 76 seats needed to form a government in the 150-seat lower chamber.
She suggested that Labor would be better able to get its legislative agenda through the Senate, where major parties rarely hold majorities.
The Greens' record support in the polls increased the party's Senate seats from five to nine, giving them the leverage to become kingmaker in deciding which major party controls that chamber.
But Abbott, who doubts the science behind climate change and rules out ever taxing polluters for their greenhouse gas emissions, said Labor had proved unstable even with a clear majority.
Bitter recriminations within Labor over the election result have begun, with at least one lawmaker who lost her seat blaming her colleagues' dumping of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for Gillard.
Some lawmakers have blamed the result on a series of damaging media leaks against Gillard during the election campaign which are suspected to be the work of disgruntled Rudd loyalists.
Independent Tony Windsor said he planned to talk with fellow independents Bob Katter and Rob Oakeshott on Sunday to decide whether to negotiate a power deal with the major parties as a group or individually.
They were the only independents in the last Parliament and are former members of the Nationals party, which is a coalition partner of the Liberals.
But all have said they are open to supporting a Labor minority government.
Independent Member of Parliament Rob Oakeshott appeared to agree.
No Australian government has had to rely on the support of independent lawmakers to rule since 1943.
With more than 78 percent of the vote counted, the Australian Electoral Commission said Labor had won 70 seats and the Liberal coalition 72.
Most analysts agree that the coalition is likely to finish with 73, one seat ahead of Labor, leaving an unstable minority government led by Abbott and supported by three independents.
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