Whether Mr Abbott can realise his dream will become clearer after independents Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter meet in Canberra tonight..
The trio, along with Adam Bandt from the Australian Greens, hold the key to whether Labour or the coalition will have the numbers to form a minority government.
Mr Abbott and Prime Minister Julia Gillard are both trying to woo these key players after the nation deprived their parties of the 76 seats to govern in their own right.
Late on Tuesday, the independents had three seats, the Greens one, Labor had 72, and the coalition 70 - including O'Connor held by WA Nationals' Tony Crook who may decide to sit on the crossbenches.
Four remain in doubt. Boothby and Dunkley are expected to eventually fall to the Liberals, while independent Andrew Wilkie has extended his lead against Labor in Denison.
It could all come down to Hasluck in WA, where the Liberals are in front but the seat may yet come back to Labor incumbent Sharryn Jackson.
The leaders are expected to begin formal negotiations with the independents on Wednesday or Thursday.
Mr Oakeshott has a wish list of changes for the current system, suggesting the uncertain outcome showed the community had rejected party politics.
He knows it's "cheeky" but his ideal is a system that moves beyond the current model of government to incorporate the talents of a wider pool, such as a Malcolm Turnbull in a Gillard government or a Kevin Rudd under Mr Abbott's leadership.
This, he believes, would make better use of the "talent pool", rather than the existing model with a few added Greens or independents for appeasement.
"I wouldn't be interested in a minority government situation with plus plus plus," Mr Oakeshott told reporters.
"That will be a hard sell for either side."
However, inviting Labor MPs into a coalition cabinet is a bridge too far for Mr Abbott.
"I'm a pretty magnanimous man, but that might be going a little too far," he told reporters.
He is promising, instead, to be serious about parliamentary reform.
"I make the point that I think we can have a kinder, gentler polity," Mr Abbott told reporters.
"I think we can be a more collegial polity than we've been."
Mr Abbott, one of the chief government head-kickers during John Howard's reign, accused Labour of making the parliament "needlessly confrontational".
And he has signalled there could be special jobs for the three country independents.
"What I'd expect would emerge from these discussions is a serious role for a range of different people and different organisations," Mr Abbott said.
"There should be a better deal for regional Australia emerging from this election."
Mr Katter, who arrived in Canberra late on Tuesday afternoon, indicated he couldn't be bought off.
"I'm not in the business of being conned," he told reporters, adding he was used to wielding power after his time as a Queensland minister in 1980s.
He admitted to a certain respect for Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott.
"Julia is a person you can talk to and she genuinely listens," he said.
"I don't mean that to denigrate from Tony Abbott ... his performance in the election was nothing short of brilliant and I also I liked the sort of things he was saying."
But Mr Katter's priority remains a good outcome for the bush.
"I've watched friends of mine commit suicide, I've watched hundreds of my close friends go bankrupt ... I've watched towns close down before my eyes," he said.
"I've watched all of those things happen for 25 years and I'm not saying it's payback time now but I'm asking for a fairer go."
Mr Windsor called for calm after the third day of uncertainty over who would eventually govern the nation.
"Everyone, particularly in the media, needs to calm down and wait for the polling numbers to become clearer before getting too excited about the role of the independents in the formation of the government," he said in a statement.
"There is certainly no leaning one way or the other."
