TONY Abbott appears to have sunk the government's chances of reviving its Malaysian people swap - which would leave Labor without an asylum seeker policy and facing the prospect of increasing boat arrivals.

Mr Abbott told Parliament: ''It is not the opposition's job to support bad policy from a bad government. It is not the opposition's job to save the government from a mess of its own making when there is an alternative.''

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says 'it is not the opposition's job to support bad policy from a bad government'. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Coalition has said it will wait to see the proposed amendments that would ensure people could be sent offshore, including to Malaysia and to the opposition's chosen destination of Nauru. But Mr Abbott's remarks were so strong that there seems little chance the Coalition could now back the legislation.

If the government cannot get his support, the amendments are doomed: the Greens would defeat them in the Senate whatever happened in the House.