A parliamentary attack on Labor over foreign donations from Chinese supporters backfired badly on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Wednesday when the opposition returned fire with questions about an entity called the "Julie Bishop Glorious Foundation", set up by a wealthy Chinese supporter.

The issue of foreign donations to political parties has been brewing throughout the parliamentary sitting fortnight, following revelations from a joint investigation by Fairfax Media and the ABC about Chinese attempts to influence Australian politics.

The questions on Wednesday prompted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to reiterate that the government would introduce legislation in the spring sitting to outlaw foreign donations to both political parties and other groups including Get Up and trade unions.

Minister Julie Bishop during question time on Wednesday. Andrew Meares

The investigation revealed that Labor Senator Sam Dastyari had given a press conference for the Chinese media only last year rebutting the then Labor defence spokesman's stance on contested islands in the South China Sea, the day after a Chinese donor had cancelled a massive donation to the Labor Party.

After attacking Senator Dastyari on Tuesday, Ms Bishop raised questions about the standards set by Labor Leader Bill Shorten, noting that he had appointed Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon, who had quit as defence minister in the Rudd government after weeks of questions over his link to a Chinese supporter, Helen Liu.