Labor wants parliament to censure Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss for misleading the public over shipping jobs.
Opposition frontbencher Anthony Albanese says Mr Truss should correct his claims that Australian cruise operator North Star Cruises was not told to replace local staff with foreigners to stay competitive.
He also wants Prime Minister Tony Abbott to apologise to representative Bill Milby, who's told a Senate committee he was advised by bureaucrats to do just that.
The government used its numbers in the lower house to gag Mr Albanese's motion.
Later, Mr Abbott quoted evidence the bureaucrats gave to a Senate committee in which they denied giving advice to Mr Milby.
"Tell the truth," the prime minister told Labor MPs during question time.
"Stop verballing people and agree to our changes."
The senior officials did concede to the committee they had discussed with Mr Milby options available under the planned changes, including reflagging ships, but denied this constituted "advice".
Meanwhile, parliament's human rights committee has raised concerns about the government's controversial changes to the shipping laws.
Under the bill, foreign ships could circumvent Australian crew requirements including not paying their workers in accordance with local laws.
The committee, chaired by Liberal MP Philip Ruddock, in a report said the measures could limit work rights and allow workers to be paid wages less than award rates.
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