ABCC bill better chance of passing: NXT

The Turnbull government's building watchdog legislation is closer to passing parliament after the Nick Xenophon Team decided to drop a threat against considering government bills.

Senator Xenophon withdrew his demands over the Murray-Darling Basin after securing extra scrutiny of the Basin plan, saying he could now consider the ABCC bill on its merits.

The South Australian said while the chances of the bill passing are now "better than 50-50", it was unlikely to pass in the next 12 hours but would rather be dealt with on Wednesday or Thursday night.