Australians don't want a rubber stamp senate and the government of the day shouldn't either, incoming independent Senator Nick Xenophon says.
The South Australian senator says having a majority in the upper house contributed to the coalition losing last year's federal election.
"Senates do have a watchdog role, Australians don't want a rubber stamp senate," Senator Xenophon told ABC TV.
"(And) Senates sometimes can save governments from themselves."
Senator Xenophon said the Senate saved the Hawke government from its vastly unpopular Australia Card in the mid-1980s "and I think some in the Liberal Party wish they were saved from WorkChoices with a Senate that could have blocked it".
The coalition enjoyed a one seat majority in the upper house from July 2005 until the end of June this year.
It used its power to ram through a legislative program which included WorkChoices, the sale of Telstra and counter-terrorism measures.
Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce, who handed the former Howard government its Senate majority by picking up a key fourth seat in Queensland at the 2004 election, agrees the new-look Senate will be a better house of review.
"We got some decisions wrong as the previous government and that's why we're out of government," Senator Joyce told ABC TV.
"I've always believed we should have a more robust Senate."
The upper house - with the Greens, Family First and Senator Xenophon sharing the balance of power - could now get back to what it's supposed to do, Senator Joyce said.
"There should be more discussion in the Senate and people should see Senators using their heads and voting accordingly rather than as directed."
