Labor has signalled it may not support new anti-terrorism laws if the government ignores its own legal advice.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was expected to bring a bill to parliament this week which would empower him to strip Australian citizenship from dual nationals suspected of terrorism.
But the government is still taking legal advice, and the bill did not go to cabinet on Monday or the coalition party room on Tuesday.
There are concerns among cabinet ministers, including Malcolm Turnbull, that the bill needs more work on legal protections to ensure it is not overturned in the High Court.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor would not agree to any bill that allowed decisions to be made based on "ministerial whim".
"We are looking for a great deal more than a ministerial whim and we can't really progress this debate further until the government comes forward with its legislation," Mr Dreyfus said on Wednesday.
Sky News has quoted "three senior government sources" who claim the advice of the solicitor-general, believed to have raised doubts about the constitutional legality of the move, had only been seen by the prime minister, attorney-general and immigration minister and not the cabinet.
Mr Dreyfus said it would be expected a full brief would go to cabinet on such an important issue.
Mr Abbott did not respond directly to questions about the claims when quizzed by reporters on Wednesday.
"The important thing is that we have a sound law which strips the citizenship from terrorists who are dual nationals," Mr Abbott said.
"That's what we're going to do."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he had grave concerns that the laws would not survive in the courts because of the government's incompetence.
"The government needs to put forward its proposed legislation and work with the opposition so together we can make the best laws possible to protect Australians," he told reporters.
AAP understands that in the period from July 2014 to mid-March this year the Abbott cabinet met 35 times, while the national security committee met 57 times.
Other cabinet committees met 59 times, meaning the committees met more than three times more often than cabinet itself.
The citizenship bill is expected to go to parliament by the end of next week, before the six-week winter break.
Share
