PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says Julie Bishop "embarrassed the nation" by claiming the coalition had secured support from Indonesia for its people-smuggling policy.

Labor ramped up its attack on Ms Bishop on Monday, accusing the deputy opposition leader of backing away from comments that the coalition had fixed a deal with Indonesian to turn back asylum seeker vessels.

Ms Bishop, also the foreign affairs spokeswoman, has denied she made the claims and says she was misrepresented in an article on The Guardian website.

But during question time on Monday, the prime minister said Ms Bishop had not treated the Indonesians with respect and now was backing away in a "shambolic" manner.

"The deputy leader has embarrassed the coalition, embarrassed the opposition and embarrassed the nation," she told the House of Representatives.

Labor would never try and "verbal" Indonesian authorities during discussions about border security, but instead tried to work cooperatively, she said.

Ms Bishop later sought leave to claim she was misrepresented, adding the publication had since retracted its headline and amended the article.

"At no time did I say in an interview ... that the coalition had either negotiated or reached an agreement with Indonesia," she said.

"Indeed I said repeatedly in that interview that the coalition in opposition cannot reach agreements with foreign governments."

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison then asked his Labor counterpart Brendan O'Connor why a "convicted Egyptian jihadist terrorist" was only transferred from a low-security asylum-seeker facility once the issue made the press.

He then moved a motion to suspend standing orders, accusing the government of refusing to answer his questions or establish an independent inquiry into how the alleged incident occurred.

The move failed after failing to attract an absolute majority.

Originally published as Julie Bishop 'embarrassed the nation': PM