The tracking of Australians' social media posts to advise the government on its immigration policies is a Labor legacy, the Abbott government says.
The federal government has market research contracts worth $4.3 million to gauge public opinion on policies including immigration, communications and the West Australian Senate election.
It has contracted social media research firm Cubit Media Research to monitor mood about the government's immigration policies through Twitter, Facebook and blogs.
Labor Senate leader Penny Wong criticised the government's "distorted" priorities telling Fairfax Media it had "written a blank cheque" for market research.
However, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the contracts were first commissioned and funded by the former Labor government.
"Penny Wong is criticising research funding her own government approved and spent when she was finance minister," he said in a statement to AAP.
He criticised the attack as an "embarrassing" move by Senator Wong.
"Labor spent so much money in government they can no longer remember what they spent it on."
