The government's attempt to ram through legislation on immigration is likely to succeed with the support of the Coalition.

The legislation would make it easier to deport non-citizens who have no right to remain, by forcing them to comply with actions such as applying for a passport. It would also see the government refuse to process visa applications from certain countries.

You can read more about it here.

The Coalition is likely to support the bill, although it has some concerns it wants to discuss in the Senate.

But before then, the crossbench in the House of Representatives has determined to make things as procedurally difficult as possible, which means we're in for an afternoon of consulting obscure parliamentary standing orders.

Question Time, which was due to start at 2pm AEDT, was delayed by a series of points of order made by crossbenches attempting to cite various rules to delay or otherwise postpone the process.

On their desks were copies of parliamentary handbooks, which they rifled through trying to find avenues. To raise their points, they held sheets of paper over their head, as pictured above — a traditional gesture signalling to the Speaker they wish to speak.

The efforts were not successful, and the bill is getting close to passing the House — although it won't happen until after Question Time. But expect further attempts to slow the process down in the Senate.