Gillard asks independents to save her government

Prime minister Julia Gillard said today no major party had won a majority of parliamentary seats in Australia’s general election and she had started negotiating with independent MPs in an effort to cling to power.

Ms Gillard said she was hoping to enlist support for her centre-left Labour Party and had held preliminary talks with three independents in the House of Representatives, an independent candidate whose seat is not yet assured and an MP from the Greens party.