Irrespective of his private wishes, Mr Turnbull is said to be privately convinced that with as long as seven weeks to go before a final vote is taken, the Senate will find the common ground needed to pass the legislation, averting the early double dissolution threat, in which most crossbench senators would be wiped out. Malcolm Turnbull speaks outside Holsworthy Army Barracks on Tuesday. Credit:Nick Moir It comes despite what appeared to be an increase in sabre-rattling from the crossbench senators, who remain angry at the Prime Minister's stipulation that they must only negotiate with the government as a bloc rather than as individuals. Liberal Democratic senator for NSW, David Leyonhjelm, is incensed at Mr Turnbull's use of another crossbencher, Family First's Bob Day, to wrangle the independent and micro-party senators rather than call them separately. Senator Day is a former Liberal Party federal candidate, and a successful housing industry entrepreneur who is a known strong backer of measures to clamp down on union militancy on the nation's building and construction sites.

Senator Leyonhjelm suggested the approach of deploying the South Australian revealed that the Prime Minister was not genuine in his attempts to reach a deal on the legislation because he was more interested in fighting an election based on its rejection. He said Mr Turnbull had not hesitated to call crossbench senators when he became Liberal leader last September, despite having no need for their support. "Now he needs our votes, well supposedly he needs our votes, he wants Bob to do his leg-work for him," he said. "Now I don't think that signifies serious commitment to getting the ABCC bill through the Senate, what I think it signifies is posturing." Later, he went further, telling Fairfax Media: "They have no intention of negotiating anything to do with the ABCC, they are all just pretending to talk to us and the intention is to go to a double dissolution."

But sources close to Mr Turnbull insist he is committed to the legislation, and government figures say they expect crossbench objections to recede as the first-term senators contemplate their own political mortality in a double dissolution. Speaking at a local chamber of commerce meeting in Leumeah, Mr Turnbull restated that he wanted the legislation through, rather than the election trigger its defeat would bring. "Support for the ABCC is simply about ensuring that the rule of law applies . . . it is a fundamental, critical, economic reform." According to government insiders, Mr Turnbull's assessment is that while a double dissolution election would almost certainly deliver the government a more manageable Senate, with fewer crossbench senators, passing the ABCC and registered organisations bill would represent a big win for the government and for his own authority. And while a standard House and half-Senate election would leave seven of the eight crossbenchers in place for the entirety of the next term, the government's election mandate would be clearly established, forcing crossbench senators to respect the will of voters.