Close elections always deliver the best results for the people, and it looks like this one is going to go right down to the last handful of votes in the last seat to be decided, namely the WA electorate of Hasluck.

The prospect of a minority government remains the most likely outcome of the deadlocked vote.

It would be the first minority federal government in 70 years, but some who have led minority state governments in recent times say it’s nothing to be afraid of.

Both Steve Bracks and Mike Rann claim it is possible to import independent members of parliament into the government and both protect and preserve their independence and still maintain access to supply.

There is even a school of thought that the independent scrutiny of policy helped deliver better government, so much so that in South Australia the Labor government continued its relationship with an independent in its cabinet even after it won a subsequent election and with it the ability to govern in its own right.

It will take a special kind of leader to win over the three independents and then work with them.

While it would be easy to assume that the trio will all side with the conservative side of politics, from which they were borne, assumptions in politics can be extremely dangerous.