Move was a shock to Coalition, as Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts had sided with them on amendments

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

One Nation has shocked the government by voting with Labor, the Greens and Jacqui Lambie to reject the Coalition’s bill to broaden the grounds to deregister unions and disqualify their officials.

Despite voting with the Coalition on One Nation, Centre Alliance and government amendments, Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts then crossed the floor to vote the so-called Ensuring Integrity bill down.

Due to a tied 34 to 34 vote, the bill was negatived. The vote was a major win for unions, which had been furiously lobbying the Senate crossbench not to pass the bill, warning that industrial action, including campaigns for nurse-to-patient ratios, could trigger deregistration under the draconian new laws.

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Attorney general Christian Porter said he was “very disappointed” by the result and suggested the government may reintroduce bill – but the Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil confidently predicted it would be “humiliated” if it did.

In a statement Hanson said despite amendments “there was a quantity of non-amendable changes that prevented our full support”, including powers for court-appointed administrators to take over the functions of a union.

At a press conference, Hanson and Roberts cited inaction on corporate crime including the differential penalties for the 23m alleged breaches of anti-money laundering provisions by Westpac as another reason.

ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, said that the message from the vote was “don’t mess with working people” and that people “don’t like double standards” on legal breaches by unions, companies or politicians.

Both O’Neil and Hanson ruled out any quid pro quos in return for One Nation support, with Hanson insisting she would “never base [her] vote on that”.

Despite recounting stories of workers calling her office in tears to thank her for blocking the bill, Hanson warned the Senate debate was a “shot across the bow” of unions, reserving the right to vote it through in future if unions did not stop behaviour she characterised as “bullying” and “corruption”.

If the government reintroduces the bill, Hanson said she will “assess it at the time” and her vote is “not guaranteed the next time”.

Earlier in the week, Hanson had twice warned One Nation would not be rushed on the bill, and twice said the government could not take its votes for granted.

But despite never publicly committing to vote one way or the other, One Nation’s contributions in Senate debate and backroom negotiations had led the government to believe passage of the bill was an inevitability.

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The attorney general Christian Porter agreed to joint amendments with Centre Alliance and a separate set from One Nation, which created a demerit point system and required an actual penalty to have been imposed by a court, rather than just a finding of wrongdoing.

On Wednesday senator Malcolm Roberts told the Senate that One Nation would not stand for “union-bashing” or a bill that allowed deregistration for misdemeanours like late paperwork – which was still allowed by the bill, if unions breached rules three times.

Roberts went on to lash “rogue” union officials who he said “must … be held to account” and noted that One Nation’s “positive improvements” to the bill had been accepted.

Earlier on Thursday, Anthony Albanese refused to comment on the hypothetical of what Labor would do if the bill passed.

Lambie – who had said that if militant construction unionist John Setka did not stand aside the bill would pass – nevertheless sought to amend it and then ultimately opposed the bill.

Her amendments would have required a review after 12 months and excluded “a failure or refusal by the person to attend for work” from the list of breaches that could trigger deregistration. These amendments were voted down, although both One Nation and Centre Alliance amendments were accepted before the ultimate defeat.

Lambie hit out at the government’s negotiating style, saying they had not been prepared to entertain her amendments, and she had not met with Porter about her proposed changes to the bill.

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“They wouldn’t even talk to me about it, they knocked me straight out of the game. I’m assuming they thought they had the numbers,” Lambie told Guardian Australia.

“No one wanted to deal with me over this bill, they should have left all of their options open.

“Cutting me completely out, that was one vote they already lost, that is not smart politics, that is plain stupid.”

In Senate debate on Wednesday the Centre Alliance senator, Rex Patrick, noted that the federal circuit court judge Salvatore Vasta had labelled the Construction Forestry Mining Maritime and Energy the most “recidivist corporate offender in Australian history”.

Patrick told the Senate the amended bill was not a “union-busting” law, accusing unions of “misleading” and “fear-mongering” claims.

Patrick claimed that only “systematic conduct” was targeted, so three “mistakes” by a union breaching separate and unrelated provisions would not trigger deregistration.