Labor jumps on minister's security breach

Federal Labor has seized on revelations former minister Stuart Robert took his government phone on a trip to China where he met with local officials.

"A real security breach has occurred here and I think it warrants further investigation," shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus told Sky News on Monday.

The former junior defence minister lost his job after an internal inquiry found he breached the ministerial code of conduct by making the trip in his own time to support the mining deal of a friend who was also a major Liberal Party donor.