OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has accused Julia Gillard of losing control of parliament as he tried to have the lower house censure the prime minister.

He also accused Ms Gillard of "scurrying" out of the chamber to avoid debating a Coalition attempt to censure her for defying the will of Parliament.

Earlier the Parliament took the rare step of condemning a government policy, with both Houses calling on Labor to dump its asylum seeker swap deal with Malaysia.

In an embarrassing defeat for Ms Gillard, an Australian Greens motion condemning the so-called "Malaysia solution" passed the lower house with Coalition support this morning.

The same motion passed the Senate in May. However, the motion has no legal power meaning the Government is free to persist with its plan.

After Ms Gillard told the Parliament the Government intended to proceed with the Malaysian deal, Mr Abbott moved to censure the Prime Minister.

"Shame on you, for defying Parliament," he said.