LABOR will be returned to Government after the independents handed their support to Julia Gillard this afternoon.
After 17 days of deliberations, independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor backed a Julia Gillard Labor government.
Earlier, the third independent Bob Katter revealed at a separate news conference that he would be backing the Coalition.
Gillard will lead Australia's first minority government since 1940.
Labor now controls 76 votes in Parliament's lower house, with the Coalition on 74.
Mr Oakeshott said the parties had neglected country Australia for too long but the independent MPs had secured a package which would 'turbo-charge' regional areas.
Mr Windsor said he believed Labor's $43 billion national broadband network proposal was superior to the Coalition's policy and that it was a key factor in his decision.
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