Dutton wanted to see his kids

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has defended taking an early mark from parliament last week, saying he was trying to rush home to see his children before they went to sleep.

Mr Dutton was among several coalition MPs whose absence from parliament allowed Labor to inflict an embarrassing defeat on the government.

"If I can get the 5.25pm flight I can see the kids before they go to bed. If I get the 7.30 flight, I tiptoe in at 10 o'clock," Mr Dutton told Ray Hadley on 2GB Radio, adding that he had worked 12 hours on the day the government had lost the procedural votes in the lower house.