The fallout from a Liberal MP's explosive decision to name billionaire political donor Chau Chak Wing as funding the bribery of a senior United Nations official is threatening to derail progress on the Turnbull government's foreign interference laws.

Fairfax Media has been told some Labor MPs were angry at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s decision to pursue the government over Andrew Hastie’s surprise move, and that some regarded it as a breakdown in traditional bipartisanship on sensitive national security issues.

This has deepened tensions on the key Parliamentary security committee that Mr Hastie chairs and which is examining the foreign interference laws, with a meeting set for Thursday being cancelled, Fairfax Media understands.

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Hastie told Parliament on Tuesday night that an unindicted co-conspirator named in FBI documents as “CC-3” was Mr Chau, who is one of Australia’s most generous political donors, having given about $4 million to the major parties over many years.