Politics Live: November 23, 2015

Okay end of the day. What happened?

• Parliament held a minute's silence to remember people who died in recent attacks in Paris and other locations;
• Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australia will not send further ground troops into the Middle East;
• this was prompted by just such a suggestion by former defence minister Kevin Andrews;
• government senator Cory Bernardi has also questioned whether Australia should still take 12,000 refugees from Syria; and
• the opposition has raised questions about the role of Special Minister of State Mal Brough in relation to the James Ashby/Peter Slipper case.

My thanks, as usual, to Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen for their work and to you for reading and commenting.

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Alex, Andrew and I will be back in the morning. We hope to see you then.

Bookworms like myself might be interested in the shortlist for the Prime Minister's literary prize.

The five books short listed for the fiction prize are Amnesia by Peter Carey, In Certain Circles by Elizabeth Harrower, Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett, The Golden Age by Joan London and To Name Those Lost by Rohan Wilson.

There are also categories for poetry, non fiction, history and young adult fiction.

Shortly before question time the Senate voted in support of Greens' amendments to migration legislation to remove children from immigration detention.

It now goes back to the House of Representatives where it will be promptly knocked on the head given the government controls the chamber.

Unless, as Greens' immigration spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, said: "Malcolm Turnbull has a decision to make. Will he reverse the will of the Senate and the people just so that he can keep children locked up in detention?"

If you'd like to catch up on Mr Turnbull's statement on the Paris attacks you can read this story.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrives for question time on Monday.Credit: Andrew Meares

You can catch up on the background to the raids on Mr Brough's house in this story.

The opposition clearly feels it has enough to continue to ask questions about the matter.

And with that, question time is over.

Mr Brough is resolute: "Integrity in all things parliamentary is essential and this is no different."

Special Minister of State Mal Brough and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during question time on Monday.Credit: Andrew Meares

The opposition has never forgotten Mr Brough's role as a kind of intermediary in the James Ashby/Peter Slipper saga.

Mr Brough was never found to have done anything wrong but the Federal Court judgement in the case was critical of of his behaviour.

The matter has not been forgotten as last week's AFP raid shows.

Mr Dreyfus asks the Prime Minister if he has confidence in Mr Brough.

Mr Turnbull says he does.

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne is keen for the question to be ruled out of order but Speaker Tony Smith allows it.

Mr Brough maintains nothing he has said in relation in his role in the James Ashby/Peter Slipper affair has ever been repudiated.

He says his upmost concern is the integrity of the Parliament.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in question time on Monday.Credit: Andrew Meares