Billionaire politician Clive Palmer has called on the government to provide his party with more advisers ahead of it sharing the balance of power in the Senate.
The Palmer United Party will have three senators from July 1 and has an agreement to work with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party's Ricky Muir - giving it four out of the six extra votes the government will need to pass laws.
Mr Palmer put a submission to Prime Minister Tony Abbott seeking a similar level of resources to that of the Australian Greens.
The Greens have four advisers per senator and Christine Milne has about 14 staff because of her status as a party leader.
Mr Palmer says his staffing proposal was rejected but the government should reconsider.
Asked whether he would make the extra staffing a bargaining chip over legislation the government wanted passed, Mr Palmer said: "That may be the ultimate thing."
"But that is not the intention. Our intention is for the government to be reasonable."
Mr Palmer said his party could not talk to the government about legislation until they knew what it was about.
He said his senators would not simply "tick boxes".
They needed to know how to amend legislation and ensure that government bills did not hurt pensioners and orphans.
"It's not about advantage - it's just getting the job done," he said.
"It's in Australia's interest, it is in the Senate's interest, not to have any holdups."
Mr Palmer said his senators would look at each bill on a case-by-case basis.
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