Under a deal struck supposedly in the national interest, funds for the re-development of the Hobart hospital will be fast-tracked and there will be reforms of poker machine spending limits.

This latest deal has Ms Gillard within sight of her Holy Grail. The government has 74 votes compared to the opposition’s 73, with the three rural independents still to announce their intentions.

At least one of the trio, maverick north Queensland MP Bob Katter, has confirmed his mind is made up, but he has declined to reveal which party he will support.

But the time has come for decisions. And while 48 hours ago Ms Gillard looked to have made a strategic error by confirming an alliance with the left-leaning Greens, the gaping holes exposed in the opposition’s policy costings have clearly rocked Tony Abbott and quite possibly, his chances of forming the next government.

So now the independents should show their hand and bring an end to the trade-offs that are more about a blatant exercise in pork barrelling than they are in the nation’s best interests.

The decision to be made by the independents should never have been about what is best for their individual electorates and what can be creamed off to benefit one electorate over another.

But it should have been based on which party’s policies were actually the best for Australia because that is what we the Australian people voted on in the first place.