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INDEPENDENT MP Andrew Wilkie says he feels used, has been treated like a pawn and his relationship with Prime Minister Julia Gillard will never be the same again. In a candid interview with the Sunday Canberra Times Mr Wilkie, whose vote could be critical to the government staying in power, revealed deep fractures in his relationship with the woman he supported to become PM. ‘‘You do feel used. I am a pawn to be moved around the board,’’ he said. Mr Wilkie said he had spent more time recently meeting Opposition Leader Tony Abbott than Ms Gillard. He met with the Prime Minister only twice since his poker machine deal was torn up in January. Before their relationship soured, Mr Wilkie and Ms Gillard met each sitting week and sometimes even between sitting weeks. Since the 2010 election, Mr Wilkie said he had continued meeting with Mr Abbott every sitting week, but maintained the Opposition Leader had offered him nothing. The Member for Denison, in Tasmania, was now trying to establish himself as a genuinely unaligned MP within the precariously balanced House of Representatives. Mr Wilkie gave his support to an amended version of Ms Gillard’s pokie reforms this past week – reforms he still thought of as watered down compared to what he had proposed. He said their relationship was being rebuilt, but had little hope of returning to its former status. In his words, the PM had been mightily displeased at his comments about the character of Ms Gillard and her government when their deal fell through. ‘‘I think she took it personally that I attacked her so strongly,’’ Mr Wilkie said. ‘‘She was displeased that I associated it [the deal falling through] with her character. ‘‘I held out hopes she would be one of Australia’s great prime ministers. I’m surprised it’s come to this, she’s under such enormous pressure on so many fronts. ‘‘I think our relationship will never be as good as it was. We can’t have that good relationship again.’’ He noted Ms Gillard’s achievements, including passing a carbon tax through a hung Parliament, and said the opportunities in front of him as a key independent constituted a remarkable privilege. Mr Wilkie, who is now halfway through his first parliamentary term, described the working environment of the Australian Parliament as toxic. ‘‘It’s the hardest thing I’ve done ... the venom sloshing around in the chamber ... me being pushed around like a pawn. It is a seriously nasty work environment,’’ he said. ‘‘You’re either everyone’s friend, or no one’s friend. ‘‘It’s an unhealthy place for most people.’’ He believed the Parliament would go full term because no government MPs and too few crossbenchers wanted an early poll. He also believes it’s not impossible for Labor to retain power at the next election.

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