Mediscare was criminal: Turnbull

As Labor sought to step up pressure on the government over Medicare cuts, the prime minister said the opposition had lied to the Australian public.

Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to pass new laws to stop political parties from sending misleading text messages, in the wake of Labor's "Mediscare" campaign.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, whose party during the election campaign sent out text messages purporting to be from Medicare, asked the prime minister in parliament on Monday whether he had taken any lessons from the tight election result 100 days ago.

"If that had been done by a business, the people responsible would be facing criminal charges today and the opposition know it. They took advantage of what appears to be a loophole in the law which this parliament will close," Mr Turnbull told parliament.