Oakeshott rejects offer of ministry

Federal Independent MP Rob Oakeshott has rejected an offer to be a minister in a Labor minority government.

The member for Lyne announced his decision after speaking with Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday afternoon.

Mr Oakeshott said both sides of politics had offered him a portfolio.

But he declined the offer of a regional affairs ministry after talking with family and friends.

Mr Oakeshott said he may have had trouble getting any proposed reforms through parliament.

"I'm hoping it can be brought home by someone with potentially less thorns on them, at the moment, than me," he said.

"If I was to take this portfolio, I think there are some organisations still in parliament that may want to bring the package down."

Mr Oakeshott said there was "political heat" around the circumstances of an independent MP from a regional area supporting a minority Labor government, but he was not against the idea of an independent becoming a minister.

"I have a very strong view that independent MPs have an important role to play, not only on the floor of the parliament but also, where possible, the executive," he said.

"No one political party should own any level of that."

Mr Oakeshott laughed off doubts about his impartiality following a claim he actively sought a ministry position in the NSW Labor government back in 2007.

He was a state MP when he reportedly asked then-NSW premier Morris Iemma for a spot in cabinet, according to News Limited.

"I don't have any recollection of any conversation," Mr Oakeshott said.

"If I wanted to be a minister, I would have stayed in the National Party, I was a shadow minister."

He called on the unnamed sources to come forward, but added it was "totally irrelevant".