Labor's failed bid to delay Senate reforms

A bid by Labor and crossbenchers to delay Senate voting reforms has been shot down by the Greens and government in the Senate.

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, Feb. 22, 2016. Source: AAP

The Greens have joined forces with the Turnbull government to shoot down a bid by Labor and crossbenchers to delay Senate voting reforms.

The draft laws have been referred to a joint inquiry due to report in March but Labor and the crossbench tried to push the reporting date back to May 12 in the Senate on Wednesday.

Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said the move was a clear attempt to scuttle reform and deny voters their rights.

In a statement, Labor accused the government and Greens of trying to restrict scrutiny of their "dirty" deal to a half-day hearing by the joint committee.

It didn't allow time for proper submissions to be made to the committee, did not give affected parties time to give evidence and did not allow time to consider submissions.

"The government's bill represents the biggest change to Australia's electoral system in 30 years - it cannot be properly considered in a week with one public hearing lasting just four and a half hours," the statement said.