Politics live as Turnbull government faces make-or-break vote of confidence

And that's it for me for the day. What happened?

• Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his "light-hearted" impersonation of US President Donald Trump at an event last night;
• Mr Turnbull said it was "affectionate", and, in a stressful business such as politics, one needs to have a bit of fun;
• a motion to hold a banking inquiry passed the Senate;
• but failed to pass the House of Representatives despite a few tense minutes; and
• Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has warned Tony Abbott his comments on climate change could cost the Coalition the next election.

My thanks to Andrew Meares for his work today and to you for reading and commenting.

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Andrew, Alex and I will be back on Monday. We hope to see you then. Enjoy the next few days.

"The butt of my jokes was myself," Mr Turnbull says.

"Politics is a stressful business, you've got to have a bit of fun."

Mr Turnbull says his impersonation was "affectionately light hearted" and he's disappointed it was leaked.

The event was a "good humoured roast, a great tradition".

But, he says, next year he will have to read carefully prepared passages from the budget papers.

"That will pack them in," the Prime Minister says.

Mr Turnbull is asked, first, about the three ministers facing contempt of court charges tomorrow.

He says the judiciary must be independent - but that doesn't mean people cannot criticise.

Mr Turnbull is doing a radio interview.

Just to answer any questions anyone might have.

Just to make Mr Turnbull's afternoon even better, a leaked video of his speech to last night's Midwinter Ball has found its way to a television speech.

Mr Turnbull's speech was supposed to be off-the-record but I guess this is an age of ruling breaking.

Mr Turnbull did an impression of US President Donald Trump.

The vote is tied.

In this case Speaker Tony Smith casts his vote to allow debate to continue.

"He's a lion in Mackay and a mouse in Canberra," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says of Mr Christensen.

And there you go - all that tension for nothing.

Here's Mr Christensen's reason for not crossing the floor:

Mr Joyce and Treasurer Scott Morrison are sitting on each side of Mr Christensen for the vote.

A guard of honour, if you will.

The leader of the house, Christopher Pyne, is asking government MPs not to vote for the procedural motion that would allow this to go any further.

There's a lot of opposition MPs quickly making their way into the chamber.

Or not to support it as the case may be.

I would bet a bazillion dollars that what this little conversation was about.

Adam Bandt has given a half hour speech in support of it.

Independent Bob Katter is now to going to talk for another half an hour.

This is giving cover to the MPs trying to persuade two government MPs to support it.

It's big for two reasons - the first is the obvious which is an inquiry into the banks is big and the second is it requires two government MPs to vote for the inquiry for it to succeed.

George Christensen is expected to vote for it. 

The question is who the other person would be.

We're heading towards the house voting on a banking inquiry - which is big news.

And that's it for question time.

The opposition rewords the question.

Mr Turnbull says he asked his chief of staff, Martin Parkinson, to speak to Mr Robb about the matter and Mr Robb assured him as recently as 1 June this year he fully complied with all his obligations under the ministerial code of conduct.

Mr Turnbull tables the statement.

Opposition frontbencher Jason Clare asks Mr Turnbull if it is "just a coincidence" that donations made to a funding vehicle linked to former trade minister Andrew Robb were made on the same day Mr Robb signed the China Australia Free Trade Agreement.

The question is ruled out of order because it asks for Mr Turnbull's opinion.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop is having another go at the opposition over the links between its foreign affairs policies and positions on China.

The opposition returns fire with a question about Ms Bishop's own donations.

Ms Bishop says "one thing is certain and that is the word 'glorious' with never be mentioned in the same sentence with the name of the member for Perth".

The deputy leader of the opposition, Tanya Plibersek, asks Mr Turnbull if clean coal is now considered a clean source of energy by his government.

In addition, she asks, are there any types of energy not considered to be "clean".

It's hard to hear Mr Turnbull's answer because Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has what might best be called a booming laugh.

Mr Turnbull does not deny Ms Plibersek's charge.