Australia politics live: independents warn they are ‘frog in the pot’ for democracy as Labor pushes to change parliament vote rules

The brief

Australia's independent politicians have warned that the government's push to change parliament vote rules may undermine democracy. The Labor party is seeking to limit the power of the Senate to scrutinize bills, with Communications Minister Anika Wells accusing the opposition of being "craven" for referring a social media bill to an inquiry. The government claims it is embarrassed by the bill's initial passage and is now trying to rush through a fix. Meanwhile, independent MP Andrew Wilkie has moved to suspend standing orders in the House to denounce the government's gambling reforms. The Christian Brothers, a Catholic order, has estimated it owes $774m to abuse survivors and is seeking to sell off its properties to pay creditors.