Canberra:  Australia's two-week-long election impasse has inched closer to a resolution after caretaker Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the backing of independent MP Andrew Wilkie in her quest to form a minority government.

The support of Andrew Wilkie, MP-elect for the seat of Denison in Tasmania, took Gillard's tally in the 150-member House of Representatives to 74. She needs the support of two of the remaining three independents — Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter — to reach the magic number of 76 MPs to prove her majority.

The three independents are all from rural electorates whose constituents largely support the Opposition Liberal-National Coalition of Tony Abbott, but the trio are still undecided, and are under intense pressure from Coalition MPs to support Abbott to form the government.

Wilkie is a former intelligence analyst and whistleblower who quit his job as a public servant in protest against the former Howard government's decision to join the US-led war in Iraq. He had said then that he could not continue to work for a government that was "lying to the Australian people" about the reasons for going to war.

He was vilified by senior Howard ministers for his stance and it is therefore not surprising that he decided to back the incumbent Labor government in its bid to retain power.

Wilkie told journalists that Opposition Leader Abbott had offered him an inducement of 1 billion Australian dollars (Dh3.33 billion) for a new hospital in Hobart in exchange for his support, but he felt the offer was "reckless'' and ‘'unethical'' and decided to support Gillard after winning her commitment to introduce stricter controls on gambling across Australia.

Senior Coalition leaders yesterday made an eleventh-hour appeal to the three undecided independents to support them. The three have repeatedly made it clear that they will not be rushed or bullied into making a hasty decision, but have indicated they will decide by early next week.

With Labor having secured the support of 74 MPs, the Coalition, which has 73, needs the support of all three independents to be able to form government.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey and opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb warned the alliance between Labor and the Greens — which extends only to matters of supply and no-confidence motions — would deliver the most left-wing government in Australia's history.

"It is inconceivable to me that country independents would choose to go with what would be the most centre-left government in Australian history, in a Green-Labor alliance," Hockey told ABC radio.