Marathon Senate voting debate rolls on

Labor and crossbench senators are expecting the upper house to sit long into the night as they debate changes to Senate voting.

Australian Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale speaks during a debate in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

Australian Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale speaks during a debate in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Source: AAP

The upper house has been debating changes to the way senators are elected for more than 20 hours - and the end is still nowhere in sight.

The argy bargy was showing no signs of slowing down on Thursday afternoon with debate expected to continue well into Friday morning, as Labor and most of the crossbench continue to filibuster.

They're vowing not to go down without a fight, despite a deal between the government and the Greens to ensure the changes clear parliament.

"Bring your pillows, bring your mattresses," Labor frontbencher Sam Dastyari warned.

Senior Labor figure Penny Wong said the opposition would probably get more senators elected under the changes being proposed.

"But despite this we are taking a stand because we do not believe this is the right reform."

Senator Wong says the changes will prevent new parties from being elected, and risks turning the Senate into a rubber stamp for coalition governments.

Meanwhile, in another chamber of parliament, Labor frontbencher Gary Gray said while the changes weren't brilliant, they were 95 per cent of what a joint parliamentary committee recommended.

"I must say the position taken by my party continues to simply make me sad," Mr Gray told the Federation Chamber.

Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann pounced on his comments in the Senate.

"I could not have put it better myself.

"The only people who get advantaged by this reform are voters, voters who will now be able to direct where their preferences go."

He said the government would seek to amend the bill, to provide for instructions to voters to number at least 12 boxes when voting below the line.

Motoring Enthusiast senator Ricky Muir, who was elected with just 0.5 per cent of the primary vote at the 2013 election, said minor parties had kept the government and the opposition accountable.

The system had been designed by major parties, to benefit major parties and the changes would strip democracy from the people, he said.

He also lashed out at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, arguing he failed to negotiate with the crossbench.

"(Mr Turnbull) talked the talk but for some reason can't walk the walk unless there's a selfie involved."

The tit-for-tat politics extended to marriage equality earlier on Thursday, when the Greens voted with the government to thwart an attempt to bring on a vote of their own private bill.

Labor then sided with the coalition to stymie a similar move by the minor party.


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Source: AAP



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