The federal government has punted bringing forward extraordinary immigration powers that just weeks ago it was saying were so urgent they needed to be rushed through the parliament.
On the official Senate agenda for Thursday, Labor has excluded its legislation that seeks to give the immigration minister the power to compel non-citizens to cooperate with deportation efforts or face jail.
The decision means the earliest the Senate could next consider Labor's proposal isn't until June 24.
In March, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles unveiled legislation to make it easier to deport non-citizens, powers they wanted passed through the parliament within days.
The government is also seeking the ability to effectively ban travel from countries that do not accept involuntary returns of their citizens.
Loading...Labor listed the legislation in the Senate this week despite being in a stand-off with the Coalition over the powers.
Without the Coalition, Labor doesn't have the numbers in the Senate to pass the legislation.
Sources the ABC has spoken with in Labor and the Coalition each blame the other side for the lack of discussions surrounding amendments.
The opposition resolved that if the government brought on the legislation for debate, it would seek to amend it, while reserving its final position pending what happened with those votes.
But it never came to be, with Labor not bringing the debate on this week. The Coalition has sought to ridicule Labor for its earlier suggestions that the legislation was urgent. Labor, meanwhile, blames the Coalition for not coming to it with amendments.
The government argues it needs the power to clear a backlog of people in immigration detention who are refusing to cooperate with their deportation.
The Coalition broadly supports what Labor is seeking but has threatened to block the government's legislation unless it agrees to amendments to insert guardrails around ministerial powers.
Sense of urgency lost
Within hours of announcing its plans in March, Labor's legislation passed the House of Representatives. Ms O'Neil and Mr Giles slammed the Coalition when it blocked Labor's bid to rush it through the Senate the following day.
It did so as a case was pending in the High Court.
Known as ASF17, it related to an Iranian man refusing to cooperate with deportation on the basis he would face persecution in Iran. He argued he should join the cohort of immigration detainees released last year after the High Court ruled indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.
"The ASF17 case does show it is important that we do have these powers, it's not the only reason why we are doing this though," Ms O'Neil said at the time.
Last week, the High Court dismissed ASF17's case, finding that he wouldn't be facing indefinite detention if he cooperated with deportation efforts.
Ever since, Labor's urgency to rush the bill through parliament looks to have dissipated, despite the government insisting it still needs the proposed powers.
The proposals have attracted criticism from not just the Coalition but from crossbenchers, Labor backbenchers and refugee advocates.
Labor's failed bid to rush the laws through the parliament led to the legislation being referred to a Labor-led Senate committee.
That committee last week recommended the bill be passed unamended.
However, the Coalition released a dissenting report that proposed 17 amendments, which it said were necessary in order for the opposition to support the bill, including more oversight provisions.