Attorney-General Christian Porter is preparing to put his promised wage theft bill to cabinet in the coming weeks, while at the same time working to revive his union-busting bill in consultation with the Senate crossbench.

Mr Porter, the Morrison government's Industrial Relations Minister, said the wage theft legislation he pledged last year was "well advanced"and he aimed to introduce it into Parliament before the May 2020 federal budget.

Attorney-General Christian Porter is close to finalising his wage theft bill. Credit:Rhett Wyman

The minister, who is negotiating further amendments to his Ensuring Integrity Bill with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, is determined to pass both pieces of legislation as part of wider industrial relations reforms he says will make workplaces more productive, fair and co-operative.

He said he was willing to amend the Ensuring Integrity Bill, which was defeated in the Senate in November, to give Senator Lambie "reassurance" it would not put ordinary union members at risk, if her proposed changes did not interfere with its aim of stamping out repeated union law-breaking.