Australia faces hung parliament risk

<p><br /> Australia could have its first minority government in 70 years.<br /> </p><p><br /> Around 14 million people will have voted in the country's general election when polls close this morning.<br /> </p><p><br /> A hung parliament is a worst-case scenario for investors with one financial analyst tipping a 2-5 per cent fall in the Aussie dollar as a result.<br /> </p><p><br /> Without a clear winner, the next government would have to rely on a handful of independent or Green MPs to form a government, leaving policies such as Labor's new mining tax in limbo and creating market uncertainty.<br /> </p><p><br /> Two of the three key independents, who may decide who takes office in the event of a hung parliament, have said they cannot guarantee passage of a minority government budget, leaving the possibility of a fiscal crisis or a short-lived government.<br /> </p><p><br /> Even a razor-thin win by Gillard would diminish her mandate to introduce the 30 percent resource tax, the cornerstone policy of her campaign, and leave her weakened as she seeks to have a hostile Senate pass the tax.<br /> </p><p><br /> Labor has also pledged to take action on climate change with a possible carbon trading scheme and to construct a $38 billion fibre-optic national broadband network. The Liberal-National opposition opposes these plans.<br /> </p><p><br /> The vote looks very tight, the result may be based more on which leader, Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard or the opposition's Conservative Tony Abbott, is favoured most.<br /> </p>