The Turnbull government is claiming a win with the bill to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the ABCC, clearing its first hurdle.
The government cut short debate on the bill, to get it through the lower house on Tuesday evening.
The Nick Xenophon Team MP Rebekha Sharkie voted in favour, perhaps indicating the government could swing Senator Xenophon’s crucial three Senate votes when the legislation reaches the chamber next month.
But the government appears to have lost one of the nine cross-bench senators it needs to get the bill through.
David Leyonhjelm says he “feels deceived” that the government reneged on a deal to lift a 12 month ban on the Adler lever-action shotgun.
Reports that he was willing to support the ABCC in return for government overturning the ban forced the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to deny Opposition accusations he was "willing to trade John Howard's gun laws for votes in the Senate".
That attack also came from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"Disturbing to see reports of horse-trading on gun laws. ABCC should be supported on its merits," he tweeted.
After leaving the question open all morning, Mr Turnbull used Question Time to finally rule it out, saying the ban was “set in stone”.
“To be very clear, there is no chance at all, no prospect whatsoever, no proposal to weaken John Howard's gun laws” he told Parliament.
But Mr Turnbull caused enough concern that the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, of which he is a patron, felt compelled to speak out. It's the charity set up in honour of two of the victims of the Port Arthur massacre, which prompted former Prime Minister John Howard’s strict gun laws in 1996.
"Today was a very worrying day where we saw the possibility that someone might trade off our community safety for a vote in the senate," the foundation’s CEO Lesley Podesta told reporters in Melbourne.
Senator Leyonhjelm made life even more uncomfortable for the government by releasing an August 2015 email from the office of Justice Minister Michael Keenan confirming a deal on the Adler ban, stating "12 months after this ... the ban will automatically cease to be in place.
"In return, Senator Leyonhjelm will vote against the Labor amendments to the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Biometric Integrity) Bill 2015," the email states.
But the government insisted there was no reneging, the ban was re-imposed because the Council of Australian Governments failed to reach agreement on the gun’s classification.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said there had been "two separate discussions" with Senator Leyonhjelm regarding the bill last year and the Adler gun.
Mr Dutton said the government had now made it clear the issue of gun imports would be dealt with by the Council of Australian Governments.
"We are not going to allow the importation of the gun," he told Sky News.
The gun debate meant the Prime Minister lost much of the day’s focus on the ABCC and cleaning up union thuggery, despite releasing phone footage of a CFMEU member threatening a manager of the Commonwealth games construction site on the Gold Coast.
The CFMEU didn’t deny the video’s veracity, but said it was shot up to two years ago.
-With AAP
