Terrorism focus for parliament return

Protecting Australians from terrorism will be the focus of a two-week parliamentary sitting starting on Monday.

Tony Abbott will start the week with a speech outlining the federal government's national security strategy.

In it, the prime minister is expected to lay out a new plan to crack down on groups that publicly justify terrorism and act as "recruiting agents".

Mr Abbott will also use the speech to step up pressure on the opposition to quickly pass new laws forcing telecommunications companies to keep customer data for two years.

Police and intelligence agencies fear that - in a bid to cut costs - telcos are deleting their metadata, making it harder to investigate terrorism and organised crime.

Labor says it wants to see the results of an intelligence committee report on Friday and will bring forward amendments to the bill.

National security will also come under the spotlight when senators probe Attorney-General George Brandis, federal police and intelligence chiefs in estimates hearings on Tuesday.

The issue of how frozen berries carrying hepatitis A made it to supermarket shelves will be examined on Monday during the agriculture portfolio estimates.

Treasury officials who are working on the 2015/16 budget will be quizzed at Wednesday's estimates hearings.

Representatives of government-owned shipbuilder ASC face a Senate estimates grilling on Tuesday morning, just days after Defence Minister Kevin Andrews announced a competitive process for building the next generation of submarines.

Defence chiefs will face similar questions on Wednesday, as well as provide an update on Australia's mission in Iraq as part of the international coalition fighting Islamic State.

Foreign affairs estimates hearings on Thursday should shed light on diplomatic efforts to save drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from the firing squad in Indonesia.

Cuts to Australia's aid program will also be examined.

With only four sitting weeks left before the May budget, the government has little time to decide what measures from last year's budget to drop.

Yet to pass the parliament are the Medicare co-payment and university fee deregulation legislation.

Both are still the subject of negotiations.

The lower house may return to the higher education bill after dealing with draft laws relating to environmental protection and online child safety.