Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has taunted the opposition on national security saying the issue is an area of "strength" for the Coalition and added that Labor has "strapped itself" to the government on the issue.
Ms Bishop told the Coalition party room that the government takes national security seriously and unlike Labor, does not send bodyguards to sit on the National Security Committee in place of ministers.
Ms Bishop said Labor has "strapped itself" to the government on national security but the opposition's left faction is "gritting their teeth".
She said the government had been elected to ensure "a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia" and both issues were related and were Coalition strengths.
The government has sought to make foreign policy and national security a dominant theme of the its agenda over the current parliamentary sitting fortnight.
In question time government MPs have continually asked ministers about the crisis in Russia and Australia's role in delivering humanitarian aid and military equipment to those resisting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq.
The tactic angered some within Labor who accused the government of trying to distract from its budget by focusing on national security, which is traditionally a bipartisan issue.
The government called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to reprimand senator Sue Lines who said Prime Minister Tony Abbott's "Team Australia" rhetoric was dangerous because it intimated that some people were either "in or out" of the team.
But retired tennis star turned federal MP John Alexander read out the dictionary definition of "team" to Coalition MPs at the government party room meeting on Tuesday.
In an official briefing of the meeting, a source said the definition was read out to illustrate "how well it embraced the sentiment in the room". He said "everyone smiled and applauded" and added that it was a "wonderful moment".
