As voters grow disillusioned with the coalition and Labor, the upcoming federal election is likely to result in a hung parliament and subsequent minority government, and Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie says this could be a positive outcome.
"If a government has an absolute majority and is rubber-stamping everything, then that's what I'd call an elected dictatorship," he told AAP.
"Whereas, if it has to negotiate with sensible crossbenchers, the public could have confidence that good legislation will be improved and bad legislation will be stopped."
The major parties insist they will govern in their own right, refusing to entertain the notion of a minority government or claiming it will throw parliament into chaos, but Mr Wilkie says that is just an attempt at fearmongering.
"The major parties need to grow up, they do not have any right to a monopoly on power," he said.
The cross bench has almost quadrupled since 2010 and is expected to perform well at the election. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Since 1910 the federal government has had two hung parliaments, one in 1940 and the other in 2010 when Mr Wilkie was among four crossbenchers considered kingmakers.
The minority government he helped form under Julia Gillard had one of the highest work rates of any Australian government, passing more than 500 pieces of legislation including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, carbon pricing and major education reforms.
While he found the term to be "remarkably stable and productive", Mr Wilkie says he learnt from the experience after Ms Gillard tore up his gambling reforms.
"You probably can't trust the government to honour the deal," he said.
The cross bench has almost quadrupled since 2010 and is expected to perform well at the upcoming election, which must be held by May 17.
Though the Tasmanian noted it is not his place to give advice to his colleagues, he says he will not enter any formal deals with anyone in the event of a hung parliament and will instead approach each piece of legislation on its own merits.
Former independent MP for New England Tony Windsor echoed a similar sentiment, having experienced two hung parliaments - in 1991 at the NSW state election and federally in 2010.
"Don't bother doing written deals, it's not worth the papers it's written on anyway," he told AAP.
"Let the parliament function."
Former MP Tony Windsor notes successes with the Murray Darling Basin Plan and a royal commission. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Mr Windsor celebrates the new wave of independents, saying they have proved themselves to their communities and parliament.
A minority government could give them the chance to pass legislation that never would have cleared under a majority.
During his time in parliament, it passed a bill to launch a royal commission into institutional child abuse and established the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to ensure the sustainable management of Australia's largest river system.
"For 100 years, majority governments at the federal level debated and failed to do anything in terms of a legitimate (Murray-Darling) plan, then all of a sudden the hung parliament comes along and there's a decision made," Mr Windsor said.
"The pundits argued that it would not happen, that it'd be weak because of the way the numbers were.
"Well, in that case, it was strong because of the numbers."
Regardless, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are expected to do all they can to bring voters back to the major parties.
Though the prime minister has yet to fire the election starting gun, both leaders have engaged in pre-poll campaigning, spruiking promises and funding across Australia.
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