Federal Labor could be denied a crucial Senate vote because of a bitter tit-for-tat stoush dogging Victoria's Parliament.
Senator Stephen Conroy's shock resignation caught his Victorian Labor colleagues off-guard, but there is expected to be plenty of candidates seeking to replace the Labor stalwart.
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Senator's bombshell
Labor's Stephen Conroy has resigned in bizarre and unexpected fashion, leaving even his deputy leader lost for words. Courtesy ABC News 24.
There is already a move for the vacancy to be filled by a woman to help boost Labor's push towards equality.
But the question of a replacement could be moot unless Victoria's troubled Parliament can resolve a long-running dispute, with the Coalition and the Greens both confirming they will use their numbers to block the process as part of a retaliatory move against the Andrews government.
Under the Australian constitution, replacements in the Federal Senate must be endorsed by a joint sitting of the Parliament in the state where the vacancy was created.
That means Senator Conroy's replacement must be passed by a joint session of Victoria's Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.
The problem is the Andrews government has already blocked a joint sitting needed to swear in new Nationals MP Luke O'Sullivan, who has been selected to replace Damian Drum, who quit earlier this year to run for the federal seat of Murray at the July election.
That refusal was a retaliatory move by Labor, inflicted after the Coalition and the Greens voted to suspend for six months Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings for refusing to hand over sensitive documents.
Liberal upper house leader Mary Wooldridge said the opposition wanted a "written guarantee" Mr O'Sullivan would be sworn in at the same time as Senator Conroy's replacement in a joint sitting.
"We don't want to see any tricks," Ms Wooldridge said. "We don't trust Daniel Andrews, and will want to see that [guarantee] in writing."
The Greens will also support the move to fill both vacancies simultaneously, ensuring any motion for a joint sitting that fails to also endorse Mr O'Sullivan will fail.
"I'm sure common sense will prevail and we are keen for this joint sitting to happen as soon as possible," Greens leader Greg Barber said.
The move could make Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's task ferrying government legislation through the upper house slightly less onerous. Under the current numbers, the federal government needs an extra nine crossbench votes to pass any legislation not supported by Labor.
Premier Daniel Andrews paid tribute to Senator Conroy as an outstanding minister and senator for Victoria. In flood-hit Charlton on Friday, Mr Andrews was asked if he was concerned the opposition would block a joint sitting to elect the senator's replacement.
"I'm not here today to comment on the opposition," he said.
Asked if he would allow a joint sitting to swear in the replacement and to swear in Mr O'Sullivan, the Premier said: "We'll have to wait and see how these things unfold."
Labor's public office selection committee will select Senator Conroy's replacement at a date to be set by the party's administration committee when it meets in the coming weeks.