All the main players in negotiations over which of the two major parties will form Australia's minority government are in Canberra.
The three re-elected country independents, Rob Oakeshott, Bob Katter and Tony Windsor, will have their first face-to-face meeting since Saturday's federal election produced a likely hung parliament.
Newly-elected Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt also will be in Canberra where he is hoping to meet his fellow crossbenchers, ahead of discussions at some stage with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Mr Oakeshott said he and his two independent colleagues would have a "lockdown" meeting in Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon.
"We will discuss what has happened and where we go from here," he told ABC Radio.
All three independents have agreed to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" on any discussions with Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott.
Mr Oakeshott is keen to ensure any agreement includes a lower house buffer for a minority government, saying 76 seats was probably not enough, and a stable relationship with the Senate.
Observers have taken that to mean the independents are more likely to support a minority Labor government.
But Mr Windsor played down that prospect, saying he wanted to wait until the election outcome was determined.
He rejected reports in Sydney's Daily Telegraph that Ms Gillard "increasingly" had his support and that of Mr Oakeshott.
"I wouldn't give that paper the time of day," he told Fairfax Radio.
Counting of votes on Monday just added to confusion about the make-up of the new parliament.
Labor so far has 72 of the 150 lower house seats while the coalition has 70.
Four seats are still in doubt, with the Liberals leading in Dunkley (Vic), Boothby (SA) and Hasluck (WA).
Labor and independent Andrew Wilkie are locked in a tense battle for the Tasmanian seat of Denison, where the Australian Electoral Commission is less than halfway through a preference count.
After distributing preferences from about 31,000 votes, Labor's Jonathan Jackson leads Mr Wilkie by 408 votes.
Labor believes it can retain the seat by a couple of hundred votes, a prediction likely to be be confirmed later today.
There is a real possibility both the major parties will finish with 73 seats each, although the coalition's tally includes WA National Tony Crook, who has indicated he would rather sit on the crossbench than with his federal colleagues.
