Liberal MP Christopher Pyne has accused Karl Stefanovic of defaming him on national television after the host said donations from a Chinese firm to political parties 'looks completely suss'.

Mr Pyne appeared on the Today Show on Friday morning to discuss foreign donations made to Australian political parties after Labor senator Sam Dastyari resigned for asking the Chinese company Top Education to foot his $1600 travel bill.

The conversation quickly became heated after Karl accused the Liberal party of making 'changes to the system' to benefit Top Education after its head attended Phillip Ruddock's 40th anniversary dinner.

'That's not right. Trying to link the two is actually quite defamatory,' Mr Pyne said.

But Karl hit right back, laughing as he asked: 'Are you going to sue me?'

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Liberal MP Christopher Pyne has accused Karl Stefanovic of defaming him on national television

Mr Pyne appeared on the Today Show to discuss foreign donations made to Australian political parties after Labor senator Sam Dastyari resigned for asking Top Education foot his travel bill

Mr Pyne appeared to ignore the question and continued to explain having personal debts paid is 'completely different' to political party donations.

Karl then turned the conversation to Labor MP Anthony Albanese who joined the host in the studio.

As Mr Pyne tried to cut in, Karl repeatedly told him to 'hang on,' before telling him he 'sounds like Tony Abbott this morning'.

This launched another heated exchange.

'Well you've actually tried this morning to set up a straw man Karl and it needs to be broken down,' Mr Pyne said.

'What you said is wrong'.

Karl then said the frontbencher was 'angry this morning' to which Mr Pyne responded: 'Well don't defame me on national television'.

The host then began to laugh before saying: 'Don't defame me by saying I'm defaming you'.

The conversation quickly became heated after Karl accused the Liberal party of making 'changes to the system' to benefit Top Education

'That's not right. Trying to link the two is actually quite defamatory,' Mr Pyne told the host

Karl then turned the conversation to Labor MP Anthony Albanese who joined the host in the studio

This comes after it was revealed the Chinese firm involved in paying a $1600 bill for Labor senator Sam Dastyari reportedly also made donations to the Liberal party.

Top Education reportedly gave the Liberal party $65,000 before then education minister Mr Pyne extended the streamlined visa program from universities to the private sector.

Senator Dastyari quit as manager of opposition business in the Senate and consumer affairs spokesman after sustained pressure for allowing a Chinese donor to foot the bill for a $1600 travel overspend and reportedly taking a pro-China stance on the South China Sea at odds with Labor's position.

'I had a bill, I did not want to pay the bill myself,' he told the Nine Network outside his home in Sydney on Thursday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Malcolm Turnbull has attacked Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for not sacking Senator Dastyari over the incident.

During the interview, Karl began to laugh before saying: 'Don't defame me by saying I'm defaming you'

As Mr Pyne tried to cut in, Karl repeatedly told him to 'hang on,' before telling him he 'sounds like Tony Abbott this morning'

'Bereft of a leader, he had to take the sword into his own hands and dispatch himself,' the prime minister told reporters on Thursday in the Laotian capital Vientiane, where he is attending the ASEAN summit.

Mr Pyne said the visa processing arrangements decision was made by the public service, not the government.

He insisted there was nothing wrong with the government receiving donations from Top Education.

'The only reason they would have been given streamlined visa processing is they, along with 20 or so other education businesses in Australia, met the requirements that the public service decided were required,' he told the Today Show.

'Nothing to do with the Liberal Party or the Labor Party for that matter, or the government of the day.'