The Australian Greens have moved a motion trying to change the parliamentary sitting calendar next year, arguing it conflicts with school holidays and isn't family friendly.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert on Monday called on Labor to back their changes to the sitting timetable, particularly around two contentious weeks slated for July.
The Greens claim those weeks were set aside so the federal government could ram through its carbon tax repeal legislation if needed once the new Senate entered in July.
The government opposed the motion, saying it wasn't unprecedented for sitting weeks to be in July and the new Senate deserved the chance to scrutinise important legislation.
"I have no doubt there will be important legislation for the Senate to consider at that time," manager of government business Mitch Fifield said.
Labor senator Claire Moore said the opposition would abide by the long-standing tradition of allowing the government of the day to set the parliamentary timetable.
But she agreed it was important for parliamentarians to spend time with their families, and warned the government that Labor would not look kindly on future requests for sitting hours to be extended.
"There can be no guarantee of any agreement to requests for extensions which come into this place," Senator Moore told the chamber.
She said there would have to be "exceptional circumstances" for any request to be seriously considered.
Liberal senator Ian Macdonald, while disagreeing with the Greens, said he wasn't "terribly happy" about the way the sitting weeks were determined for the remainder of the year.
"I think it was appallingly late in being distributed and it means that a lot of people are going to be inconvenienced," he said.
However he recognised the calendar couldn't be set until vote counting was finished in the Queensland seat of Fairfax, and supported setting aside weeks next July if it meant the carbon tax would be scrapped.
The Greens motion was defeated.
