Senators denied penalty rate attack credit

Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm is annoyed he is not getting the credit he deserves in the Senate.

He wants the public to know it's him and Senate colleague Bob Day from Family First, not the Turnbull government, who are leading the campaign to change penalty rates.

The cry for attention comes after Labor listed the "Turnbull government's attack on penalty rates" as a matter for discussion in the upper house on Monday.

Senators Leyonhjelm and Day were the only parliamentarians to introduce a bill to "attack" penalty rates, the Liberal Democrat's office declared in an email to the media titled "Why our boxers are in a bunch".

"The Turnbull government are only talking about it."

Senator Leyonhjelm says the duo are "just a little miffed" about the lack of recognition, after they introduced a bill to relieve small business owners from paying penalty rates.

Employers would only have to pay staff penalty rates if they worked on a public holiday, more than a 10-hour shift or if weekend work was in addition to a 38-hour working week.