The Coalition's initial rejection of a Labor MP's request to return home to be with her sick child made ''an absolute mockery of everything the Opposition Leader has ever said about working women'', according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Ms Gillard's comments came after opposition Chief Whip Warren Entsch initially refused on Tuesday to grant a pair to Labor's Michelle Rowland, who wanted to attend to her daughter Octavia, who had a fever and was vomiting. After an outcry from government ministers, the Coalition backed down and granted her leave.

A ''pair'' is an undertaking between parties in which a politician agrees to refrain from voting to square the numbers when an opponent cannot attend Parliament for a good reason. The controversy was exacerbated by the Coalition.