After two nerve-racking weeks, the three country independent MPs are about to decide who will form government.
Independent MPs Bob Katter and Rob Oakeshott are poised to reveal today whether they will support Labor or the coalition to help form a minority government after a hung parliament.
Labor needs the votes of two independent MPs to form government, while the coalition needs the backing of all three.
Mr Katter said on Monday night he would "most certainly" be in a position to make a decision on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Mr Oakeshott said the NSW MP would not leave his decision beyond Tuesday.
NSW independent Tony Windsor is likely to follow suit.
The trio of disaffected Nationals banded together to seek information from the major parties and struck a deal with Labor and the coalition on parliamentary reforms late on Monday.
But there was one last stumbling block to a final decision - whether West Australian MP Tony Crook and the WA Nationals had a formal agreement on confidence and supply with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Mr Crook said in a statement to AAP early on Monday evening he would support the coalition.
But he would sit on the cross-benches until the Liberals agreed to match the WA royalties for regions scheme with federal funding for regional infrastructure, employing the same tactic the WA Nationals did to hand the Liberals power in 2008 after a hung parliament in the state.
But Mr Oakeshott's office still wanted a more formal undertaking late on Monday night.
Mr Katter was unapologetic for trying to get the best deal for his constituents.
"I've made up my mind that you give me that and you'll get the gong as prime minister of Australia, and if you don't, you won't," he told ABC television on Monday.
He paid Labor a compliment, saying under Kevin Rudd it had set about establishing the national broadband and energy grid schemes without winning votes in mind.
Liberal senator Nick Minchin said he did not blame the independents for taking their time to come to a decision.
Senator Minchin said Mr Abbott had run the most successful opposition campaign in more than 70 years to put a first term government at risk of losing.
It would probably be another 40 years before the scenario was repeated, he said.
