Labor frontbencher Tony Burke has rejected suggestions he asked the Abbott government to release a Nigerian drug dealer from immigration detention.
Mr Burke wrote to the government in March on behalf of a constituent who came to his Sydney electorate office to plead for help to get her partner released from Villawood Detention Centre.
Labor's finance spokesman says he and his staff did not know at the time that the woman's partner, Drichuckuv Nweke, was a convicted drug dealer.
Regardless, he says it is "completely wrong" to suggest he argued for Nweke's release - rather he just told the immigration department what the woman had said, as any MP would.
"All that letter says is someone has presented to my office and this is what they said," Mr Burke told ABC radio on Monday.
"There are some occasions where the member of parliament takes up the issue themselves, there are some occasions where the member of parliament actually backs in the character of an individual.
"This letter does not do that."
Mr Burke said the department's response, outlining Nweke's criminal history, had found its way into the media before arriving at his office, suggesting the government was trying to distract attraction from its unpopular budget.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Mr Burke had shown a lack of judgment and due diligence, and he was not being "fair dinkum" by trying to distance himself from the letter.
"He needs to explain to his constituents that when he writes to ministers he doesn't really mean it," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
He denied the department's response had been leaked to the media.
"The response was sent to him on Friday," he said.
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