Labor’s push for the Senate to call on the Governor-General to sack trade union royal commissioner Dyson Heydon has failed, after key crossbenchers refused to support the motion.
The Greens and independent senators Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus sided with Labor while senators John Madigan, Bob Day, Ricky Muir and Nick Xenophon voted with the government to oppose the motion.
Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm and Palmer United Party senator Zhenya Wang abstained from the vote.
Labor needed the support of one more crossbencher for the motion to succeed.
