Australian Prime Minister 'read riot act' to missing ministers

Australia's Prime Minister has said he "read the riot act" to three ministers after they went home early, meaning his government lost a series of votes.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's conservative coalition holds a majority of one seat in the parliament.

The opposition Labor Party came within a single vote of calling for a royal commission into Australian banks.

Three senior ministers - Peter Dutton, Christian Porter and Michael Keenan - were among the coalition MPs not in the Lower House when Labor decided to pull a surprise test of the government's power.

Their absence meant the opposition won three consecutive motions: first surprising parliament against adjourning at the usual time of 16:30.

Second and third votes effectively brought forward a fourth vote on a royal commission into Australian banks.

The opposition are said to have been pushing for this after a series of allegations of misconduct in the banking sector.

In response, the MPs were recalled from airports and turned back on return drives to Sydney, the BBC reports.

The government then reportedly regained control over parliament to suppress the proposal.

Turnbull said the move exposed a degree of complacency among his colleagues, and that he had "read the riot act" to the ministers.

"A number of our members should not have left the building," he told 3AW radio.

"They did the wrong thing, they know they did the wrong thing.”