Lambie sparks veterans debate as Labor strikes deals

Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where Courtney Gould gets you up to speed on the happenings from Parliament House.

An impassioned Jacqui Lambie struggled to get the words out as she shared details about the medical battle behind her five-month absence from Parliament House.

Six months ago, her vagina started to prolapse and three months later, she told the Senate, it took her "bladder with it" and required surgery. Lambie said it was directly linked to her back injuries from her time serving in the army.

After hearing the story of female veteran Kate, who waited three years before she could find a gynaecologist "happy with the low prices [the Department of Veterans' Affairs] pay", Lambie took matters into her own hands.

Lambie says it's part of a broader issue with how the department treats female veterans and their health.

"I would like to ask the prime minister, minister [Richard] Marles, and minister [Matt] Keogh what they would do if their penises were hanging by a thread, and what they would do if treatment for that injury directly connected to their military service was denied by the Department of Veterans' Affairs," she said.

Lambie used the speech to draw focus on the government's contentious proposed $5000 cap on veterans' allied health spending, which covers everything from chiropractors to physiotherapy.

The cap was announced in the budget and is aimed at tackling dodgy providers. It doesn't come into effect until next year and the government argues that veterans will still be able to apply for more funding where it is clinically indicated.

But veterans are sceptical about the department's ability to administer the cap. Lambie's intervention came as the Coalition used Question Time to exploit the rift between the veterans' affairs minister and former defence personnel on the matter.

Keogh had initially knocked back a request to meet with The Coalition of Veterans' Voice, which is campaigning against the cap. After pressure was applied, he conceded he'd "got it wrong" and sat down with them.

He was later accused of rolling his eyes and crossing his arms during the meeting, a characterisation he rejected. The Coalition jumped on claims Keogh had disrespected veterans and called for him to be sacked.

Lambie's speech cut through in a week where there was a lot going on. A smorgasbord of deals saw the prime minister get a trio of inconvenient bills off his plate.

It was, as David Speers wrote this morning , a week of rare cooperation between the government and the opposition. After striking an agreement with the Greens on negative gearing, the capital gains tax, and environment laws it was now the Coalition's turn.

A bipartisan deal was struck on gambling advertising , which will result in the establishment of an opt-out register for online wagering ads. How that would work, well, that's anyone's guess right now.