Tony Abbott says he's never been involved in any discussions about unilaterally sending troops into Iraq.
But the prime minister has confirmed there were talks about sending troops into Ukraine to protect the bodies of victims of the MH17 disaster.
The Australian newspaper at the weekend reported Mr Abbott raised the idea of sending 3500 troops to Iraq to fight Islamic State at a meeting in November.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Monday attempted to broaden the question to whether the prime minister ever participated in "any discussions for a unilateral deployment of troops to Iraq".
"No, I haven't," Mr Abbott told parliament.
He read to the house a statement from Chief of the Defence Force Mark Binskin and Defence Department Secretary Dennis Richardson, who dismissed the story as "false".
"At no point has the prime minister raised that idea with the ADF and/or the Department of Defence, formally or informally, directly or indirectly," the pair said.
The Australian stands by its story.
However, Mr Abbott said Australia had spoken to Dutch authorities about sending Australian troops to the Ukraine after the downing of MH17.
"We were not going to allow dead Australians to be violated by Russian-backed rebels," he said.
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