AS THE nation awaits the outcome of the long-ago election, which could come today or perhaps Tuesday, one of the key independents has demanded big changes in the way government handles the needs of regional Australia.
Tony Windsor, one of the three country independents set to decide the new government, has asked - in his wish-list sent to Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott on Sunday - for regional affairs to be brought more directly under prime ministerial control.
The trio - the others are Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter - are expected to announce their position in the next two days, well over a fortnight after Australians voted in a hung parliament.
Mr Windsor, who said on Sunday he would have made up his mind by Tuesday morning, has also asked for a full review of the Henry tax reform proposals - including the mining tax - as part of the list of demands he has put to the Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, and Opposition Leader Mr Abbott.
The review would enable the Gillard mining tax deal to be re-examined, although Mr Windsor is not opposed in principle to a resource rent tax.
Mr Windsor wants to embed the power of regional Australia for the long term through changes to the structure of government, and believes this requires the prime minister to be front and centre in how its needs are met.
He favours a minister for regional development; beefing up Regional Development Australia, which distributes largesse, so it has more money and clout; and a parliamentary committee to monitor what is done.
Mr Windsor also supports a parliamentary committee on climate change and wants Professor Ross Garnaut to update his report.
Negotiations continued over the weekend. The government did a deal on parliamentary reform with Mr Oakeshott, while Mr Katter met Ms Gillard. Both sides are believed willing to offer Mr Katter some concession on ethanol, one of his core demands.
Ms Gillard needs the support of two of the trio to remain Prime Minister; Mr Abbott needs all three to get office. Mr Windsor said the prospect of tied support - 75 seats each - could tip one of the three to change his mind.
He made it clear that he would not be dictated to by the Coalition or his own constituents to commit to a conservative outcome.
''The philosophy of who is to be the next government and who is not, isn't what this is about,'' he said of the suggestion that his own conservatism should decide which side gets his nod.
''It's about allowing someone to form a government … that would hopefully last for some time. And that's the adjudication we're going to make: who's most likely to be there in three years' time.'' That was best assessed by ''gut'', he said.
Mr Windsor rated the chance of two of the three siding with the Coalition and one with Labor at a not insignificant 20 per cent. That would be a 75-75 tie - a scenario he said would be unworkable.
''If that became the deciding factor, it could tip it one way or the other,'' he said, speaking at his farm at Werris Creek near Tamworth. At least one independent - including himself - might change position to avoid a fresh election.
''Do the people want another election? No,'' he said.
''And we [independents] have a vested interest, particularly on behalf of country Australia, to right some of the wrongs [done to regional Australia].''
Mr Windsor will meet Mr Oakeshott and Mr Katter in Canberra today. ''It's either D-Day tomorrow or Tuesday.''
Mr Abbott, in an open letter to the independents published yesterday, said: ''They can opt for the Labor Party, in defiance of the expressed political preference and the economic interests of their own electorates. Or they can opt for the Coalition and form the most country-oriented national government since World War Two.''
Mr Abbott said Australia was more likely to have stable government from an alliance of 76 broadly like-minded MPs than from a ''rainbow coalition of fractured Laborites, Greens and country conservatives''.
Infrastruct ure Minister Anthony Albanese accused the Coalition of ''almost trying to intimidate'' the independents.
The House of Representatives reforms that the government has agreed on with Mr Oakeshott include a three-minute limit on ministers' answers and 30 seconds for questions, new rules on answers being relevant, and a parliamentary budget office. The Speaker and deputy Speaker would be from different sides and not attend party rooms.
Both Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott have declined to agree to legislation to back their undertakings to run full term, although constitutional expert George Williams, from the University of NSW, said he believed it would be constitutionally possible to legislate.
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