Senators will return to Canberra later this month with the expectation that they will give final consideration to the government’s industrial relations legislation – unless they decide to refuse to consider it. Glenn Lazarus, whose approval the government may need if the bills are to have any hope of passing, tells Michelle Grattan he will not be bullied or blackmailed into giving his support.

Lazarus says that when he asked Malcolm Turnbull to turn the Australian Building and Construction Commission into a national corruption watchdog for all industries, the prime minister gave him a blank look.

The former Palmer United Party (PUP) senator also says that he has become a better politician as a result of leaving PUP and that no ministers had visited his office before his decision to walk away from the party.