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CANBERRA: Australia was finally set to learn its new government Tuesday, after more than two weeks of haggling since deadlocked August 21 elections returned the first hung parliament in 70 years.
The three "kingmaker" independent MPs held final discussions in Canberra on which of the two main parties to hand power to as a minority government, and were expected to announce their decision at about 2:00 pm (0400 GMT).
"My guess would be probably early afternoon, but as soon as we can announce it we will," one of the three, Tony Windsor, told public broadcaster ABC.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's centre-left Labour party and Tony Abbott's conservative Liberal/National coalition both failed to win a majority in the first such case since 1940.
Gillard, who became Australia's first woman leader in a controversial June party coup, currently has 74 seats in the 150-seat parliament and Abbott 73, both short of the 76 needed for a majority.
The three "kingmakers" -- Windsor, Oakeshott and Bob Katter, all from rural electorates -- have given few signals of which way they will fall, although bookmakers favour Labor and Abbott's team was becoming pessimistic.
"It does not feel as confident as it should," Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce told ABC radio. "You see the issues that are going on, and on, and on, and you get a sense that the momentum is slipping away from us."
The decision will cap an extraordinary period in Australian politics including Gillard's shock ousting of the once hugely popular Kevin Rudd three weeks before the elections were called hoping for a bounce in the polls.
But her anticipated honeymoon period failed to materialise as many voters rejected both main parties and turned to the environment-focused Greens, which enjoyed a record ballot share.
The knife-edge campaign, election and its aftermath has kept Australia's public and business community on tenterhooks for nearly two months, causing some impatience among the media.
"Gentlemen, time's up!" read the Daily Telegraph's front page headline, while another of the paper's articles added: "Time to move: Australia can wait no longer".
-AFP/wk
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