Crossbench senators are being rewarded with spots on powerful parliamentary committees.

A number of key appointments for Senators from outside the two major parties has been seen as a play by the government for their votes.

Senators are allowed to vote for people to serve on committees, a provision which recently saw Labor and the Greens push Stirling Griff of the Nick Xenophon Team onto an NBN Co joint inquiry.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson stood but missed out.

Surprisingly, respected Nationals senator John “Wacka” Williams then stepped aside to give his NBN committee spot to Ms Hanson.

“Senator Hanson has a great interest in regional Australia and the government was happy for her to become a member of the committee, and Senator Williams was happy to facilitate this,” said a statement from Mr Williams’ office.

“Nationals Member for Mallee Andrew Broad is also a member of the committee.”

Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong says the Coalition appears to be making friends with One Nation, tweeting: “Turnbull Government and Pauline. Besties”.

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts has been rewarded for voting with the government too, after he gained approval for an investigation into industrial relations reform.

Roberts wants the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate “narrowing the IR carve-out that exempts some union and company abuses of law from the scrutiny that otherwise applies to all other Australians”.

Insiders say the One Nation senator will be expected to support legislation reviving the construction cop the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which some may remember was used as a trigger for the double-dissolution election earlier this year.

And finally, Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm has been granted the lead role in an inquiry into “how red tape imposed on us by three levels of government affects our economy and impacts our lives”.

Leyonhjelm led the charge for the Personal Choice and Community Impacts inquiry launched by the Senate this year, the so-called ‘nanny state inquiry’, which held seven public hearings but then fizzled when the election was called.