Labor wants an explanation over claims Australian diplomats sparked an FBI investigation into Russia's role in the US election.
Australian High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer and Australia's Ambassador to the US Joe Hockey are named in media reports.
Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek flagged Labor will ask the Government for a briefing in the future. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he's not worried about the saga damaging his relationship with US President Donald Trump. But Plibersek said: "We've got a Government that hasn't handled the relationship with the US particularly well."
The New York Times has reported that Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told Downer during a meeting in London in May 2016 that Russia had emails that would embarrass Hillary Clinton. Australia passed the information on to the FBI after the Democratic Party emails were leaked, according to the New York Times, which cited four current and former US and foreign officials.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Hockey headed up Australia's dealings with the FBI, in a sign of how politically sensitive the Australian Government regarded it, and added: "It is also understood there is now annoyance and frustration in Canberra that [Downer] has been outed through leaks by US officials as the source."
