SYDNEY—Australia's major political parties have begun negotiations to form a new government after weekend elections failed to deliver a conclusive result. The country's two major parties, the center-left Labor administration of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Liberal-National conservative bloc of Tony Abbott, said Sunday a new government likely won't be formed for a number of days, as negotiations begin with nonparty lawmakers who hold the keys to power in the first hung parliament in 70 years. Australia's two major parties started wooing independent lawmakers on Saturday after an inconclusive election left the nation facing its first hung parliament since 1940. Jon Decker reports for Reuters. The outcome—the first time since the 1930s where a first-term government has failed to clearly win re-election—will likely fuel a bout of uncertainty as markets weigh the demands of independent lawmakers who range from rural-based conservatives to environmentalists.[Read more...]