The Labor leader launched a stinging critique after a horror week for the Coalition as the PM left for the G20

Bill Shorten has bookended a horror parliamentary week for the Morrison government with a full-throated parliamentary onslaught, declaring the parliament is “part-time under this prime minister, but the civil war in the Liberal party is a full-time occupation”.

When a government MP was ejected from the chamber during a rowdy question time, Labor attempted to capitalise on the Coalition’s lack of command of the chamber, now that it governs in minority, with a snap suspension of standing orders, creating an opening for Shorten to launch a stinging critique.

Labor ultimately lost the procedural vote in the House, with four of the independents abstaining, and Bob Katter backing the Coalition, but Shorten grabbed the opportunity to declare his opponents had given up on governing, and were now only talking “to themselves about themselves, in conservative echo chambers”.

Referencing recent electoral drubbings for the Coalition, Shorten said the Liberals now “pontificate about this mythical rightwing base and … write off whole communities as irrelevant”.

He said the government explained various setbacks by arguing various electorates were unrepresentative of the community as a whole. “Batman isn’t the real Australia. Perth is not the real Australia. Fremantle is not the real Australia. Mayo is not the real Australia. Braddon isn’t the real Australia. Longman isn’t the real Australia. Wentworth isn’t the real Australia.”

Shorten said the government had disavowed the whole state of Victoria after the weekend state election defeat.

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He contended the “part-time parliament” – a reference to the scaled-back sitting program for 2019 – “points to a bigger issue”.

“This is a government which has simply ceased to govern. Not only have they given up governing, they’ve given up pretending to govern. They have no agenda and no legislation,” Shorten said, adding the government was now “swept along by the currents of hate and division”.

Morrison, who departed for the G20 meeting in Argentina immediately after question time, attempted to repel the political assault by pointing to the government’s record in economic management.

The prime minister said there were “more Australians turning up to work under this government than ever happened under their government” – prompting a Labor MP to interject caustically – “except for you”.

Morrison said the government had presided over the strongest growth in the median wage in the past 13 years, and the strongest growth in non-mining investment in 30 years, as well as the lowest level of welfare dependency of working-age Australians in 25 years.

“The Labor party has a plan to divide this country,” Morrison said. “The Labor party has a plan to undermine the very principles of a fair go that has made this country the strong, united, vibrant country that it is today, and Australians, I believe, will get the opportunity to see that between now and the next election.”

“They will know absolutely when they go to the next election that the leader of the Labor party, and the Labor party, wants to disrupt the living standards of Australians by imposing their ideological and reckless agenda on the Australian people.”

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Morrison does not have a bilateral meeting scheduled with Donald Trump at the G20 but trade is expected to be a major focus, with the United States and China in the middle of a damaging trade war. Morrison is expected to meet the British prime minister Theresa May.

Parliament rose on Thursday night and will return for the final parliamentary sitting week of the year on Monday. Morale inside the government is low, reflecting the current level of political adversity, and the crossbench independents are flexing their muscle, wanting to use the remaining parliamentary sessions to get some runs on the board.

The manager of government business Christopher Pyne met the lower house crossbenchers late on Thursday – a constructive gesture after earlier in the week threatening to send the new member for Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps, to the high court.

The independents want the government to bring on debate next week about a private members bill Phelps has proposed to allow the immediate transfer of children and their families from Nauru. The crossbench at this stage lacks the numbers to trigger debate if the government doesn’t facilitate it.

It remains unclear whether the home affairs minister Peter Dutton will be referred to the high court to have his eligibility tested, with some of the independents now saying other government and Labor MPs also have questions to answer.