VOTES by constituents of the seat of New England are coming in at almost two to one calling for independent member Tony Windsor to side with the Coalition and help them form a government.
By late last night, The Leader’s online poll had attracted 413 votes calling for Mr Windsor to side with the Coalition, while 194 preferred him to put the government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard back in charge of the Treasury benches.
The poll runs in parallel with voter trends in the electorate as cast in the federal election on Saturday.
The Nationals’ candidate Tim Coates received 20,337 votes, or 25.17 per cent of the total vote, while Country Labor’s Greg Smith had 6472 votes – slightly more than 8 per cent, but a drop of 2.89 per cent on the party’s vote in the 2007 election.
However, Mr Windsor has called for calm after the third day of uncertainty over who would eventually govern the nation.
“Everyone, particularly in the media, needs to calm down and wait for the polling numbers to become clearer before getting too excited about the role of the independents in the formation of the government. There is certainly no leaning one way or the other,” Mr Windsor said in a statement.
He said the formation of government was a pivotal issue for the future of the nation and should not be trivialised by irresponsible journalists inventing their own stories.
Mr Windsor said the story in the Daily Telegraph yesterday that said, “The three independents met late into the (Monday) night in Canberra in an effort to reach consensus” was absolute nonsense and he had not spoken to the journalist who wrote the story.
“I was in Sydney participating in the ABC TV Q&A program and stayed in Sydney overnight,” he said.
“Bob Katter was still in North Queensland and Rob Oakeshott was the only one in Canberra and was appearing on Lateline.”
Mr Windsor had face-to-face discussions with Mr Oakshott and Mr Katter last night and he said there was certainly no leaning one way or the other or breaking up of the Independents “if needed” as the story indicated.
“I have only had courtesy calls from both leaders,” he said.
Mr Katter arrived in Canberra late yesterday afternoon indicating he couldn’t be bought off.
“I’m not in the business of being conned,” he told reporters, adding he was used to wielding power after his time as a Queensland minister in 1980s.
He admitted to a certain respect for Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott.
But Mr Katter’s priority remains a good outcome for the bush.
“I’ve watched friends of mine commit suicide, I’ve watched hundreds of my close friends go bankrupt... I’ve watched towns close down before my eyes,” he said.
Mr Oakshott knows it was “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.
This, he believes, would make better use of the “talent pool”, rather than the existing model with a few added Greens or independents for appeasement.
Meanwhile, a respected senior union figure said yesterday Prime Minister Julia Gillard should be prepared to do “almost anything” to stay in power.
Transport Workers Union Queensland state secretary Hughie Williams, who has been an ALP member since 1955, said the bottom line was staying in power.
“She should be prepared to do almost anything to ensure Abbott doesn’t get into power,” Mr Williams told AAP.
“Abbott is dangerous.
“We should make every effort to continue to govern – we’re better off to be there than not be there at all.”
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