The new Chris Minns government will face more scrutiny given its minority status, but the results may be better for the people of New South Wales, according to a former independent powerbroker.
If history is anything to go by, the 58th government won't be unstable because it's two seats short of a majority — but it will face some heavy interrogation.
The Minns government will have to secure the support of two crossbenchers to pass any legislation through the lower house, which means keeping some of the nine independents, or members of the minor parties, on side.
Three independents — Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and Wagga Wagga MP Joe McGirr — have guaranteed the Minns government confidence and supply, but all bets are off for everything else.
The last time an election produced a hung parliament in NSW was in 1991, when the Liberal Nick Greiner government won 46 seats, one short of a majority.
Their power was further diminished the next year when they lost a by-election to Labor and one of their own, Terry Metherell, became an independent.
This meant independent MPs Clover Moore (Bligh), Tony Windsor (Tamworth), John Hatton (South Coast) and Peter Macdonald (Manly) held the balance of power.
The results? A more transparent and fair government, according to Mr Windsor.
"Rather than be defeated on the floor of the house, they sussed out what the various independents thought of that particular issue, and modified it before it even got into the parliament," Mr Windsor told the ABC.
"This can make a big difference because even in minority, governments can have big chests and think they're pretty puffed up."
He said the Greiner government came to expect lots of modifications to their bills, unrestricted debate on their proposals and the introduction of more independent bills.
Mr Windsor — who was also crucial to Julia Gillard's minority federal government in 2010 — said the big advantage was a slower pace.
"It makes people think about 'why am I doing this?' because they have to explain to the independents and just that in itself improves the parliament."
Mr Windsor said the power of the crossbench was particularly evident when the Gillard government formed the Murray-Darling Basin plan, and when the Just Terms Compensation Act passed under the Greiner government, giving people better rights if their land was compulsory acquired.
"[The government] kept saying they were going to do 'just terms', but they were deliberately delaying it because of a spat between the Libs and the Nats, and I was able to walk down the middle of it and say, 'well, this is going to happen'."
The Australia Institute's director of democracy and accountability Bill Browne said the independents in the Greiner era set the agenda of the lower house.
"That crossbench delivered real reforms including fixed four-year terms for governments … better protections for whistle-blowers and strengthened the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman," he said.
Another lasting impact of that crossbench was the support they gave the opposition to establish the royal commission into the police service between 1995 and 1997.
In the current parliament, the crossbenchers are expected to put major pressure on the Minns government to strengthen their policy on gambling reform.
While the former Coalition government promised a mandatory cashless gaming card, Labor has only committed to a trial of this card on 500 pokie machines.
Mr Greenwich has already flagged his intention to make cashless cards law.
Crossbenchers such as Independent for Barwon Roy Butler are also expected to raise their opposition to the $2.5 billion Narrabri gas project Labor has committed to.
