Three unlikely kingmakers mull Australia’s next government

FORGET the prime minister. Real political power in Australia right now is being wielded by a maverick in a cowboy hat and his two colleagues. A week after national elections ended on a knife edge, the unlikely trio of lawmakers have emerged as kingmakers.

Pugnacious Bob Katter is rarely seen without his broad-brimmed white felt hat – a reminder that while he strides the corridors of Parliament House in the national capital Canberra in a suit and tie, he’s from untamed cattle and mining country in the remote northeast Outback.

Before the August 21 elections, Katter and fellow rural lawmakers Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott were the only independents in the 150-seat House of Representatives. They struggled to have their voices heard in a parliament where lawmakers rarely vote against party lines – and are never forgiven when they do.