PM stands ground on resettlement refusal

Tony Abbott has hit back at criticism from Indonesia that Australia's not pulling it's weight on the southeast Asia asylum seeker boat crisis.

Tony Abbott has stood by his refusal to resettle refugees stranded at sea in Southeast Asia. (AAP)

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has hit back at Indonesian criticism of his emphatic refusal to offer resettlement to thousands of refugees stranded at sea in southeast Asia.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi chastised the hardline approach, saying it was not fair to say it was a problem for Jakarta to resolve.

"It's not an Indonesian problem," she told CNN overnight, adding there needed to be co-operation from the international community.

Mr Abbott remains unrepentant, arguing no country should be encouraging people to board boats and embark on dangerous and deadly sea journeys.

"It would be utterly irresponsible of me or anyone to suggest for a second that we will reward people for doing something so dangerous," he told reporters in Tasmania on Friday.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the prime minister's approach isn't helpful.

"Tony Abbott shouldn't dumb the issue down to saying either we take these people here or we do nothing," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Australia was a smarter, more generous nation and it should be talking to neighbours in the region to see what it can do to help.

Mr Shorten praised Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for showing a little bit more sympathy than Mr Abbott.

Earlier Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne warned refugees hoping to win the "Lotto of life" and live in Australia must come through the front door.

"We can't allow open slather on our borders because that will take us back to the chaos that occurred under the Gillard and Rudd regimes," he said.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand this week agreed to end the dangerous game of "human ping-pong" and stop turning away vessels.

Instead, Indonesia and Malaysia will provide temporary shelter to the refugees so long as the international community provides resettlement within a year.

Nearly 3000 refugees have already swum to shore or have been rescued off the coast of the three countries during the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown disrupted long-established smuggling routes, prompting some smugglers to abandon their human cargoes at sea.

An estimated 7000 people are still stranded in boats.

Representatives of 15 countries, including Australia, will meet next Friday in Thailand to discuss ways to address the crisis.