Australian kingmakers to see budget projections

Australia's two major parties granted three independent lawmakers access Friday to confidential projections of how much their campaign promises would cost - key information for the legislators who will play kingmakers following an inconclusive election.

Since neither of the major parties secured a majority in the vote, both sides are wooing a Greens lawmaker and four independents who won seats in the 150-member House of Representatives, where governments are formed.

Three of the independent lawmakers said this week they couldn't make their decision about whether to support Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor Party or the conservative coalition led by the Liberal Party's Tony Abbott until they knew more about how much their respective promises would cost.

The Treasury and Finance Departments usually works up such figures, but they are generally only for the eyes of the incoming government. Both Gillard and Abbott's consent was necessary to release the data.

"Clearly the independents ... have sought this information in circumstances where their votes and their attitudes may be crucial to who forms the next government," Gillard told reporters.

"In those circumstances, I think it was appropriate that each of them ... seek to have full information on costings and on budget figures," she added.

Abbott initially refused permission, arguing that Treasury's bureaucrats couldn't fully understand the details of opposition policy and might leak the information. Gillard said Abbott notified her on Friday that he would allow the lawmakers to see the figures as long as they were kept secret from her.

Gillard allowed projections for her party's promises to be shown to both the lawmakers and Abbott's party.

Abbott was not immediately available for comment and was expected to hold a news conference later in the day.

The Australian Electoral Commission preliminary counts updated Friday found Labor was likely to hold 72 seats in the lower chamber. The conservative coalition was on track to hold 73 seats, with more than 81 percent of the vote counted.