Labor tries to condemn PM over ABC cuts

Labor has attempted to censure Tony Abbott, accusing the prime minister of misleading parliament and the public over cuts to the ABC's budget.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten moved a motion in the lower house on Monday to have parliament condemn Mr Abbott over his pre-election pledge to keep the ABC and SBS budgets untouched.

Mr Shorten accused the prime minister of having no integrity when it came to keeping commitments on education, health and pensions.

He criticised the government over the loss of 400 ABC jobs announced following a $254 million cut to the broadcaster's budget over the next five years.

"This prime minister says, `It's just waste'," Mr Shorten told parliament.

"How dare this man say to 400 people that you are just a waste."

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne used the opportunity to outline Labor's apparent failures in government.

It was "one of the most rotten" in history, he said.

The coalition will keep governing for the betterment of the country - and it can be confident of the public's support at the next election.

The government later used its numbers to defeat the motion.

Mr Abbott said Mr Shorten had his own cuts in mind for the ABC.

"This just shows that Bill Shorten is all complaint and no solution. That's what he is.

"He is running a national complaints bureau. He is not trying to come up with serious credible policies to deal with the issues that are facing Australia right now," he told reporters in Canberra.