The Coalition teamed with the Greens to suspend the government's leader in the Legislative Council Gavin Jennings.

The documents related to range of projects and events, including the Peter Mac Private hospital and the Grand Prix.

The motion to suspend Mr Jennings passed 21 votes to 18.

Legislative Council president Bruce Atkinson expressed concern about the result, describing it as unprecedented.

He said it was his role to ensure that every member of the house had the opportunity to "fully represent their constituents".

Mr Atkinson said he regretted that an alternative resolution put forward on Wednesday by Labor did not come earlier in the process.

"I certainly would have been far more comfortable with that," he said.

The suspension is set to begin in the next sitting week.

Mr Jennings had previously argued it was not appropriate to release the confidential documents.

In an apparent act of political payback, the government voted to pass a motion in the lower house calling on the opposition to produce a confidential report dating back to the previous Coalition government.

If the Coalition refuses, Labor could then move a similar motion to suspend Opposition Leader Matthew Guy from parliament.

Mr Jennings told reporters it was very rare anywhere around the world for an MP to receive a six-month suspension from a parliament.

"I've been suspended for doing my job," he said.

Mr Jennings said independent advice had confirmed the documents should not be released. He said the state could lose the grand prix if it released the documents relating to the event.

"The government has acted at every turn to release information where it's able to," he said.

Mr Jennings said thousands of pages of documents had been released.

"We've provided more documents than any other government."

The Liberal Party's leader in the upper house, Mary Wooldridge, said the Opposition would provide a "pair" to balance Mr Jennings' absence.

But she said the information contained in the documents should be made available to the parliament and Victorian people.

However, Ms Wooldridge said documents that had a "claim of confidentiality" should remain confidential.

She said the suspension could be lifted if the documents were produced.

Victorian Greens Leader Greg Barber said months had been spent pursuing the government about the documents. "Parliament can't do its job without this information," he said.

A special caucus meeting was convened at 1pm in response to the suspension.

Senior Labor figures are furious with the decision, saying it sets an awful precedent and ruins the cabinet process.

Many in Labor have also seized on the Coalition and Greens voting together to ratchet up pressure on the Greens in the federal election.

These people say it is a further sign that the Liberals and the Greens are willing to work together to attack Labor.

With Richard Willingham