The fracturing of the Palmer United Party is causing a power shift in Parliament, crossbenchers say, with Nick Xenophon emerging as a power player to rival Clive Palmer.
As Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie contemplated her likely split from PUP over the weekend, the government has already recalibrated its strategy in dealing with the crossbench.
Coalition Senate leader Eric Abetz has invited all crossbenchers to a briefing on Monday morning. The 15-minute session, to be conducted by Senator Abetz's senior aide Don Morris, will outline the government's legislative agenda for the final fortnight of Parliament.
In previous months, no official briefings have been provided, with the government's focus almost exclusively on winning the support of Mr Palmer who has been able to direct the bloc vote of his three senators and Motoring Enthusiast Ricky Muir.
But the participation of Senator Lambie and Senator Muir in the so-called "coalition of common sense" that overturned the government's financial advice regulations last week marked a redrawing of alliances and power relationships.
The grouping of crossbenchers was orchestrated by Labor but headed by Senator Xenophon.
One crossbencher said the experienced South Australian has forged a close bond with Ms Lambie. "Nick has been duchessing Jacqui. He sat and giggled away with her all day in the chamber during the FOFA [Future of Financial Advice] vote," he said.
Another source said: "He's the powerbroker again; the government knows that, that's why they've called this briefing. Nick loves it. He wants to be the linchpin. He wants to be the guy who makes or breaks legislation. He's always wanted that."
Senator Xenophon, whose huge personal popularity in South Australia delivered his Nick Xenophon Group one in four upper house votes in that state at the last election, is known as a wily political pragmatist with a good antenna for the public mood.
Labor Senator Sam Dastyari, who drove the FOFA coup, said: "Graham Richardson called him the most talented politician in Canberra, and it's hard not to agree with that assessment. There's a lot of ego in politics but Nick doesn't let his ego get in the way of doing what he believes is right."
Senator Xenophon's rising influence will make life harder for the government. It appears to have given up on legislating the $5 PBS co-payment, due to come in on January 1. A Bill for the PBS rise passed the House of Representatives but is not on the notice paper for this week.
Fellow South Australian senator Bob Day said the government would have to work harder to get support from four loose groupings – PUP; Lambie and Muir; John Madigan and Xenophon; Leyonhjelm and Day.
"Three is the magic number and that's what Clive had. When you're dealing with four sets of two by definition it's going to be more complex but there are also more opportunities," he said.
NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm said it was a welcome development that the government would be unable to rush legislation in front of the Senate simply because it had landed the agreement of Mr Palmer and did not want to risk him changing his mind.
Senator Xenophon said: "Things are just a little bit more fluid than they were a week ago. The government is and the opposition is going to have to work harder to get votes. That's not to say PUP won't be influential, Dio [Wang] and Glen [Lazarus] will continue to do what they're doing."
Ms Lambie's office did not return calls but it is understood she was weighing up if there would be any financial or legal pitfalls in breaking away from PUP.
There were reports on Saturday that she had undergone a "makeover" and had headed to a wilderness cabin with her mother ahead of possibly launching the next chapter in her political career.
