Australian PM handed power by independents

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard retained power by a tiny, one-seat majority Tuesday after winning the backing of two key independent MPs in the first hung Parliament in decades.

The country’s first woman leader, who came to office in a party revolt just 10 weeks ago, scraped over the line to form a government with support from the “kingmakers” after 17 days of frantic post-election negotiations.

“Labor is prepared to govern,” a tired-looking Gillard told reporters in Canberra. “I believe the Australian people, given the closeness of this vote, want us to find more common ground in the national interest,” she added.

Welsh-born Gillard, 48, narrowly avoided becoming one of Australia’s briefest rulers after Tuesday’s dramatic denouement, which followed the knife-edge elections on August 21.

Three “kingmakers” split at the last minute, with cowboy hat-wearing maverick Bob Katter siding with conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott - who came within a whisker of snatching a shock election victory.

CANBERRA, AFP