The strategy failed but all eyes were on Denison independent MHR Andrew Wilkie who sided with Coalition MPs, for the first time since Labor reneged on a gambling reform deal, during a vote to suspend Parliament.

The suspension motion was put yesterday to force Ms Gillard to answer questions about the involvement of her office in the protest at a Canberra restaurant on January 26, which caused a security scare.

Mr Wilkie said he supported the motion because ``there are so many claims and counter-claims swirling around about the Australia Day scuffle and a parliamentary debate would have been one way of finding out the facts of the matter''.

Prime ministerial media staffer Tony Hodges quit after passing on information to a union official, who in turn reported Tony Abbott's presence to Aboriginal tent embassy representatives, who mistakenly believed the Coalition leader had called for the embassy to be moved on.

In a heated question time and suspension motion debate, Opposition business manager Christopher Pyne and other frontbenchers quizzed Ms Gillard over the role of her other advisers and whether she had a ``black ops'' unit dedicated to undermining Mr Abbott's credibility.

Mr Pyne said the incident, coupled with the broken election promise on the carbon tax and the torn-up deal with Mr Wilkie, had ``cast a shadow'' over the government's integrity.