Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday that the Multi-Party Reference Group she convened "to address asylum seeker and refugee issues," is all geared up for work, with its cross-party composition filled up save for the slots reserved for the Coalition.

In a statement, Ms Gillard called on Opposition leader Tony Abbott to name Liberal-National members that he believes should occupy the three seats set aside for the Coalition though it is likely that Mr Abbott will decline the invitation.

According to The Age, the Liberal leader was highly critical of Ms Gillard's decision to outsource the resolution of the border protection issue following the Parliament's failure last week to come up with a clear answer to the problem.

"The Coalition doesn't need an expert committee to tell us what our policy is because we have a policy, and it's a policy we will stick to," Mr Abbott was reported by the Fairfax publication as saying.

In response, the prime minister said "we are willing to accept nominations from Opposition members," just in case the Coalition would officially defer in joining the committee, which will be headed by former Defence Force boss Angus Houston, with Paris Aristotle and Michael L'Estrange as members.

She would resort to such alternative "given the clear importance that many parliamentarians across all sides of politics attach to resolving this issue," Ms Gillard said.

The government has appointed Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen and backbencher Stephen Jones to represent Labor in the panel while the Australian Greens nominated Christine Milne and Sarah Hanson-Young to take the two seats given to them.

Victorian DLP Senator John Madigan and independent MP Tony Windsor will also sit in the independent body, Ms Gillard said, assuring at the same time that the door remains open for Mr Abbott's nominees.

"The task of the expert panel is to address asylum seeker and refugee issues, including the need to prevent people from risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys at sea ... It will examine all of the policy options available to respond to this complex challenge, including those canvassed in the Parliament," Ms Gillard said in describing the core functions of the Houston Committee.

The move, however, by Ms Gillard to form the committee was assailed earlier this week by former Labor leader Mark Latham.

In an article he wrote for the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on Thursday, Mr Latham called the decision as reflective of the failed public policy embraced by the Gillard government.

He hinted too that he could hardly blame Mr Abbott for his firm conviction to skip on participating with the panel.

In an interview with Channel 9 this morning, the Liberal leader insisted that his position remains the same irrespective of the submissions that will come from the independent panel.

Asylum seekers should be processed in Nauru, be given temporary protection visas and if safety and the situation warrant, refugee boats should be towed back to Indonesia, of course with close coordination with the country's government, Mr Abbott said.