The new owner of two of Western Australia's biggest brothels has written to members of the Legislative Council urging them not to pass the government's new prostitution bill.

The debate on the law, which seeks to regulate brothels, continued in the Upper House last night when Opposition moves to have it referred to a Parliamentary Committee failed.

It is understood the independent MP Shelley Archer, who holds the balance of power, is likely to vote with the Government to pass the bill.

However, Langtrees Madam Beverly Clarke says the laws will allow sex workers to operate more freely in the suburbs because individuals won't need to be licensed.

"There will never be a situation where only one or two workers work from those premises, it's not viable," she said.

"So what you will end up having is, in the main, brothels in apartments where you have children living next door, you have elderly people living there.

"Since the advent of mobile phones and the internet it is far easier now for women to work independently outside of brothels or massage parlours and they, in the main, do work in residential areas."

The Opposition MP Simon O'Brien has accused the State Government of not consulting widely enough before introducing the bill into Parliament.

"It won't hurt if we take a little bit longer to make sure that we do it properly," he said.

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