Government stands by citizenship changes

A government frontbencher has rejected stinging criticism from former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone over a plan to strip the citizenship of dual-nationals who back terrorism.

The former immigration minister has lashed the prime minister for the proposal. She despairs that some in the coalition think it's okay to take away someone's citizenship in the "blink of an eye".

But Assistant Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the government made no apology for being tough on terrorism.

"The cabinet system was alive and well during this decision making process," he told Sky News.

"But ultimately we stand as one as a government behind the policies that we are convinced will help to strengthen the overall suite of measures being taken to protect Australians."

Vanstone writes in Fairfax Media on Monday: "No appeal, no judicial process, just a ministerial decision. What were they thinking?"

Ms Vanstone said the idea of ministers having the power to take away people's rights shows a "profound misunderstanding of the western democratic tradition".

"Cutting down our democratic protections to get at the enemy is profoundly dumb," she wrote.

She also criticised the way the idea was taken to cabinet without proper pros and cons being prepared by the department, saying it was "either lazy, sneaky or both" and Mr Abbott was throwing the Westminster system "out the window".

Labor MP Terri Butler said the opposition was open to sensible changes to citizenship laws but it wants to see the detail.

"We want a briefing and we want to make sure that there are no unintended consequences," she said.