Employment Minister Tony Burke confirmed the Closing Loopholes Bill would be split in two to allow the more uncontroversial measures to be passed on Thursday following negotiations with Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock.

That includes the criminalisation of industrial manslaughter and wage theft and protections for people experiencing family and domestic violence from being discriminated against at work.

New protections for emergency service workers who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder will also be legislated and the national work health and safety compensation authority, Comcare, will be reformed.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said Thursday’s announcement was “a welcome Christmas present for working people”.

“The Australian public understand that this legislation delivers better rights for workers which deliver better wages during the cost-of-living crisis. These changes will make work a safer place to be as well as give workers a pay boost at a time where they really need it,” she said.

“The rest of the Bill must pass in the new year. We won’t leave truckies, casual workers and gig workers behind. The job is unfinished until that happens.”

The Coalition’s employment spokeswoman Michaelia Cash, meanwhile, lashed the “dirty” deal.

“At its simplest, this is a government seeking to deliver a union agenda,” she said.

The Coalition supported the original crossbench proposal to split the Bill to pass less contentious elements, but Senator Cash said Thursday’s agreement was “an attack on labour hire”.

What happens next

The rest of the measures will be dealt with in the new year after a parliamentary committee reports back in February.

Mr Burke declared it a “really good day for workers’ wages and a really good day for workers’ safety”.

“All for the measures that were in my Bill that were part of the private member’s Bills that senators Lambie and Pocock moved, all of that can be done today,” he said.

“Criminalising industrial manslaughter can be done today, reforms to Comcare can be made today, making wage theft a crime can be done today and enclosing the labour hire loophole.

“You’ve seen the ads, ‘Same job, Same Pay’ can be done today – all of that is possible.”

Mr Burke indicated that independent senator Lidia Thorpe had also given her support.

“In the Senate today, the closing loopholes Bill will be divided into closing loopholes and closing loopholes 2. The remaining measures will be dealt with at the time that had already been announced at the first possible opportunity next year,” he said.

“And I have to say, I am even more optimistic about those remaining provisions because of the goodwill that we’re showing today, and the goodwill and good intentions of the crossbench.”

Senators Pocock and Lambie said they would consider the remaining parts of legislation in “good faith” next year.

‘Significant’ NDIS changes ahead

A landmark final report into the NDIS has proposed a significant five-year overhaul of the disability insurance scheme amid rising concerns over lack of access and unsustainable costs.

The probe, released earlier on Thursday, proposed 26 recommendations and 139 actions to “restore trust and pride” in how disability services were funded

It’s called for the government to immediately focus on attracting, retaining and training disability workers to meet future workforce demands and invest in greater support outside of the NDIS.

It said the creation of an improved early intervention pathway for children was “critical”, as more than half of NDIS participants were under the age of 18.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said the report marked a “significant moment in Australian history”.

He said a full government response to the review would be released in 2024.

‘Pretty standard’: Labor defends MP’s blow up

Mark Dreyfus’s temper tantrum at a Sky News reporter has been downplayed as nothing more than a “heated exchange” by Labor frontbenchers.

The Attorney-General sparked headlines on Wednesday morning when he shouted at journalist Olivia Caisley for asking if the government owed an apology to people affected by the reoffending of three people released from immigration detention.

Almost 150 detainees were released following NZYQ High Court ruling, which found holding non-citizens in indefinite detention was unlawful.

Mr Dreyfus said he would not apologise for upholding the rule of law and following an order of the High Court, called Ms Caisley’s question “absurd” and bellowed at her to “do not interrupt” when she tried to interject.

Tanya Plibersek danced around whether the exchange was appropriate when she fronted up to defend the “passionate” Mr Dreyfus on Thursday morning.

“It’s a very heated exchange between a passionate Attorney-General, who has spent his whole life defending the rule of law, and a journalist who was doing her job … and pursuing the government to get answers,” she said.

“There was a heated exchange. But I think, you know, the Attorney-General, saying that he’s not going to apologise for upholding the rule of law is a pretty standard thing to say.”

Pressed further if she was comfortable with how it all played out, the Environment Minister said: “I think people should stay calm whenever they can, in public life and in politics”.

“But what you saw was a heated exchange between an excellent lawyer general and an excellent journalist.”

Earlier, Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy insisted Mr Dreyfus “responded appropriately”.

“I think we all recognise that there are pressures but I do believe that the Attorney-General responded appropriately in terms of upholding the Australian law and no doubt,” she said.

“The journalist in question is also looking at the way that whole scenario took place.”

She said there was “nothing wrong with the questions, I think it’s more the interruption”.

Dreyfus should apologise: Coalition

It comes as the Coalition’s legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash called on Mr Dreyfus to apologise for his “outrageous” behaviour

“I believe that he should (apologise) because reporters are entitled to ask questions. The question was a very, very fair one – are you going to apologise to the Australian people for your completely botched response to this situation?” Senator Cash said on Thursday.

“We have had four detainees who have been released have reoffended. This is a rolling train wreck.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said it was an unfortunate position that “laws that in some cases have been in place for 20 years since John Howard was prime minister have been knocked over by the High Court”.

“We’ve seen some awful reoffending by a small number of these detainees but we’ve been determined to put in place laws that, as far as possible, would be robust, would be strong and would allow us to do our job of protecting the community,” he said.

Tough new laws pass parliament

The federal government will re-detain the “worst of the worst” among former immigration detainees after it passed its new preventive detention laws during a heated late-night debate.

The laws, sparked by the High Court’s ruling against indefinite detention, passed on Wednesday just hours after it was revealed a fourth former detainee was arrested.

The government said it had already begun court applications to re-detain the most serious offenders among the 148 asylum seekers who were released from immigration detention last month.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles told parliament the new regime would lock up prior offenders based on their ongoing reoffending risk and the laws would apply to the most serious cases, rather than all members of the released group.

“This proposed preventive detention regime would allow for a court to detain the worst of the worst offenders,” he said.