All eight crossbenchers voted with Labor and the Greens to establish two Senate inquiries. Both will scrutinise the actions of the Attorney-General. The new program will move decisions on $104 million worth of arts funding to Senator Brandis' ministry. Credit:Andrew Meares The legal and constitutional affairs references committee will now review the handling of the letter sent by Martin Place siege gunman Man Haron Monis to the Attorney-General and, separately, Senator Brandis' decision to divert $105 million from the Australia Council to a new program that has been branded by Labor as his own "arts slush fund", the National Program for Excellence in the Arts. The vote to establish both inquiries, held on Tuesday, was the first time all eight crossbenchers have voted with Labor and the Greens to refer the government to an inquiry chaired by the opposition. Senator Brandis is currently acting as leader of the government in the Senate in the absence of Eric Abetz who is on leave for family reasons.

Crossbenchers who spoke to Fairfax Media said they are always minded to back the creation of reviews or inquiries but Senator Brandis' personal style may have been a factor in the overwhelming nature of Tuesday's votes against the government. NSW senator David Leyonhjelm said Senator Abetz had struck a personal rapport with certain members of the crossbench, which had at times benefited the government in close votes. "Every so often we would give Eric the benefit of the doubt because he's a good bloke but George hasn't bothered with us," he said. "George hasn't won any hearts it has to be said. He's not the most warm and cuddly bloke in the Senate." Senator Leyonhjelm has begun caucusing with South Australian senator Bob Day and Western Australian Dio Wang and said the group was minded to back virtually all reviews, although he described the Palmer United inquiry into the Queensland government as "a crock" and did not vote for its creation.

Senator Day, who has a track record of voting with the Coalition, said for him it was not personal with Senator Brandis. "We all tend to support the production of inquiries and documents and things," he said. Labor was quick to connect the unified vote to Senator Brandis personally. "The two referrals are an astonishing indictment on the acting leader of the government in the Senate, Attorney-General George Brandis," said Sam Dastyari, who has worked closely with the crossbenchers on a number of issues, including the Future of Financial Advice matter. "Despite addressing two very different issues, the unanimous vote clearly shows the disdain crossbench senators have for the arrogance and conceit of Senator Brandis. It takes a lot to unite our friends on the crossbench around an issue, and Senator Brandis has done it for all the wrong reason.

"The Abbot government should be very, very worried about its prospects of passing any budget legislation through the Senate, when their Senate leader is held is such low regard." A spokesman for Senator Brandis said crossbenchers' votes was a matter for them. The Monis inquiry will review the handling of a letter sent by Monis in which he inquired about the legality of contacting the leader of Islamic State. The letter was received by the Attorney-General two months before Monis took hostages inside the Lindt café. Specifically, the inquiry will look at why the letter was not handed over to the joint Commonwealth and NSW investigation into the handling of the siege and the way the matter was investigated by the Attorney-General's Department.