Australia's Governor-General snubs Plibersek during rare parliament sitting

Australia's Governor-General refused to shake Tanya Plibersek's hand during a sitting where both houses of Parliament were brought together ahead of possible double dissolution.

On Monday, MP's and senators had their Autumn break cut short having being recalled to Canberra for three weeks in a constitutional move not used for 40 years.

Here, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove delivered a speech on government bills to restore a building industry watchdog as Labor MP's heckled.

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The Queen's representative then shook Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's hand before moving across to the opposition side of the table.

Here, he shook the hands of Bill Shorten and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce before grimly storming past Plibersek's outstretched hand.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek was left hanging and shrugs off the moment as the opposition chuckles.

A Labor colleague sarcastically yelled from the floor: “Tanya, know your place!”

While another jeered with, "that says something".

The Queen's representative reportedly contacted Plibersek's office after the ill-mannered incident and told the politician he did not see her waiting for a handshake, claiming it was an oversight.

The member of the Labor Party defended herself and says she wasn't offended or insulted in any way.

“I am completely relaxed," Plibersek told Fairfax.

The move has been widely condemned as bad mannered by social media users marking one of parliament's most compelling days since Tony Abbott was ousted as Prime Minister last year.

Although the act seems to have cruel intentions, the Governor-General is only supposed to shake the hands of the PM, opposition leader and the Speaker, The Australian reports.

Labor accuses Turnbull of misleading Cosgrove

Senior Labor senator Doug Cameron lashed out in parliament over the government's use of "propaganda" to justify restoring the ABCC.

Mr Turnbull's claim the ABCC would lead to improved productivity was a "complete untruth", based on discredited reports and figures from "cash for comment" consultancy firms.

"The prime minister misled the governor-general and he knows it," Senator Cameron said.

The bills robbed construction workers of basic human rights and put their lives in danger, he said, with evidence showing a rise in workplace deaths when the commission was established by the Howard government.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said the ABCC treated construction workers worse than criminals and created a form of industrial apartheid, where workers in construction have fewer rights than workers in other industries.

Productivity in construction actually decreased when the ABCC was established and increased when it was abolished by the Labor government, he said.

Restoring the ABCC was a tactic employed by a divided coalition government bereft of an economic agenda.

If it had anything to do with stamping out corruption, the government would establish a royal commission into the banking and financial sector, Senator Di Natale said.

News break – April 18