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AAP
AAP
Politics
Tess Ikonomou

Independent undecided on hung parliament call

Independent Zoe Daniel is yet to decide which party to back to form government in a hung parliament. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Independent MP Zoe Daniel is yet to decide which major party to back if the federal election results in a hung parliament, saying there is no single issue that will sway her vote.

Describing herself as a "lifelong swinging voter" the former foreign correspondent who won the Victorian seat of Goldstein from the Liberal Party in 2022, said she was still working through a potential decision.

"I've articulated ... my concerns, issues and frustrations with both sides, and I think they both have to do better, and also we need more policy detail particularly from the opposition," she told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

"I would hate to think that I would have to go into that conversation, if it happens, blind.

"If that decision has to be made, that's a critically important moment for our country, and it should be underpinned by data."

Polling is showing a tight race between the Albanese government and the coalition led by Peter Dutton, with either winning an outright majority unlikely.

In her address, Ms Daniel laid out key policy areas she would focus on should she be re-elected this year, with a vote due by May 17.

Zoe Daniel
A ban on gambling ads and universal early education are key election issues for Zoe Daniel. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

They include universal early childhood education and care and a ban on gambling ads.

She pointed to the government's refusal to act on gambling ads following the late Labor MP Peta Murphy's inquiry into gambling as a "failure of old politics".

But she said there wasn't any one thing that would get her over the line.

"When you're considering that really complex question of, what is the actual will of the people, if it's that tight ... what do people want the outcome to be? " she said.

"If it comes to it... there would have to be a series of issues."

Referencing the appetite for change among voters who ushered in Donald Trump as US president, Ms Daniel said in Australia independents were the "disruptors".

"When one side bases its pre-election approach on what can be weaponised and the other plays defence by default, who is coming up with the vision? The community independents on the crossbench, who behave like normal, reasonable people," she said.

Ms Daniel also voiced her support for extending current three-year terms, saying it was difficult to govern for the long-term with short electoral cycles.

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