At least two independent candidates have indicated they would support the Coalition remaining in government if Australia was faced with a hung parliament.
Rebekha Sharkie, who holds the seat of Mayo in Adelaide, and Zali Steggall, who is hoping to win the blue-ribbon seat of Warringah from Tony Abbott, said they would respect the view of their traditionally Liberal seats if forced to decide who formed government.
The Greens MP Adam Bandt said he would support Labor if his number was needed on the floor of parliament for Bill Shorten to become prime minister, but said he would be demanding action to end coal exports and support for his party’s climate policies.
Other independents are hedging their bets about who they would back if the 18 May poll did not deliver either party a majority, but unaligned candidates are compiling a wishlist of demands in the event they hold the balance of power.
Almost a dozen independent MPs and candidates are in the running to hold or pick up seats at next month’s election, and with polling tightening, a hung parliament is looming as a possibility.
The number of MPs sitting on the crossbench could increase, with independents challenging a number of mostly Coalition incumbent MPs.
Kevin Mack, the mayor of Albury who is running as an independent for the Liberal-held seat of Farrer, said he did not yet have a preference between the major parties, saying it was “line ball”.
“I would work with whatever government provides the best outcome for my electorate. I don’t have any preference,” Mack told Guardian Australia. “I would have to go back to my electorate to find out what they think.”
He listed a royal commission into water buybacks as his number one demand if he was in a position to negotiate.
“I think in this case, the crossbench will determine the major ticket items which would be a major win for the community.”
Grant Schultz, a former Liberal who is running as an independent in the NSW south coast seat of Gilmore, said “no one can assume” he would support his former party.
“I will be looking at what each party is offering the most for the people of Gilmore – parties won’t come into it at all,” he said, nominating the Princes Highway duplication, school and hospital funding and the protection of franking credits as key issues.
Kerryn Phelps, who is fighting to hold the seat of Wentworth, won from the Liberals when Malcolm Turnbull resigned, said it was too early to say who she would support in the event of a minority government. But she said she opposed Labor’s policies on franking credits, negative gearing and capital gains tax changes, based on feedback from the electorate.
“I think it is premature to be asking that question because at this stage we are looking like there would be a majority Labor government based on the polls,” Phelps said.
“[But] the people of Wentworth are not supportive of, and I am not supportive of, the uncertainty that would be created by franking credit, negative gearing and capital change tax changes,” she told Sky News.
Steggall said that she would look at the number of seats won by each major party, but in the event of a hung parliament she would “respect the view” of her traditional Liberal-voting electorate if she was in a position to decide who formed government.
“I will be looking at the option that provides the most stability, the most economic stability. This is a seat that does not have a strong Labor vote, and I respect that in terms of representing the constituents – that would certainly play a major part in my decision making, all things being equal.”
But she also said she would be calling for a stronger climate change policy from the Liberals, and greater scrutiny on government approvals for controversial projects such as the Adani coal mine.
Likewise, the sitting Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie, who is fending off a challenge from the Liberals’ Georgina Downer, said she had supported the government in the 45th parliament because “that is my community’s expectations”.
“While we are no longer a seat held by the blue team, this is a safe non-Labor seat and I am cognisant of that fact,” Sharkie said. “They have not been impressed with this government, but they do see a Liberal government as the lesser of two evils.”
She said that if she was in a position to negotiate to form government, she would want a commitment to a federal anti-corruption commission, a judicial inquiry into water buybacks, political donation reform and protection for the Great Australian Bight. She also said the biggest issue in her seat was opposition to Labor’s franking credits crackdown.
But Helen Haines, the independent who wants to take over from outgoing independent Cathy McGowan in the seat of Indi, said she did not consider it a conservative seat and did not have a preference.
“We have had two parliamentary terms with an independent, which shows that Indi is open for business in terms of political parties,” she said.
She said she would consider the national vote and the regional policies of both major parties before deciding who to back, and would look for the values of “respect, inclusion and diversity”, along with policies on healthcare and climate change.
Rob Oakeshott, who backed Julia Gillard to form a minority government in 2010, said if Scott Morrison needed his support to form government, he would “take his phone call”. “Yes, of course I would. And we’d have a discussion about the possibilities of how a parliament could run for three years, or not,” Oakeshott told ABC radio.
Independents Julia Banks, Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter did not return calls.
