Premier Bob Carr is determined to get his tort law reforms past the Opposition-dominated Legislative Council without amendment – so determined that he is threatening to take action under the state’s constitution if the public liability package is blocked.

The package was introduced with minor amendments in the Legislative Assembly last Tuesday. But Mr Carr is aware of the persuasive power of plaintiff lawyers, whose lobbying prior to last week’s national summit in Melbourne was intense. “If the Upper House falls behind seemingly innocuous amendments crafted by plaintiff lawyers, then the legislation will lose its effectiveness,” he said.

He said he will move to “deadlock provisions” if the Upper House doesn’t pass the legislation “without debilitating amendments designed to protect the position of plaintiff lawyers and render the reforms ineffectual”. The deadlock provisions allow for the managers of both houses of Parliament to meet, and if no agreement is reached, a joint sitting is called. If this fails, the issue would then go to a statewide referendum.