Prime Minister Julia Gillard flatly denied accusations from the Coalition that she was making light of the sexual harassment accusations hurled against embattled House Speaker Peter Slipper.

According to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, senior government officials have been predicting the likelihood that Slipper would soon come clean of the fraud charges raised by his former media aide, which would then enable the on-leave House Speaker to resume his duties in time for the Parliament's session resumption on May 8.

Abbott has indicated that his party would want to see Slipper remaining in the sidelines while the charges against him, both the Cabcharge and sexual harassment allegations, were being investigated by authorities.

In stating that Slipper could possibly return to his post soon enough, Abbott said on Monday that Ms Gillard "is essentially making light of the sexual harassment case," that the House Speaker must deal with.

Ms Gillard, however, blasted Abbott's claims and reiterated her stance that Slipper's did the right thing by stepping aside while a probe on his alleged questionable spending, charged against the government, is underway.

But the Gillard government also believes that the civil and criminal concerns currently besetting the House Speaker must be dealt with separately and Slipper should be allowed to dispense his parliamentary duties once his criminal liabilities have been cleared.

The Labor-led government is convinced that preventing Slipper from re-taking his post would not stand on any legal grounds, stressing too that keeping a government official from performing his or her functions due to ongoing civil cases was not supported by legal precedents.

And to claim that the government was not serious on its views regarding the alleged wrongdoings of Slipper was a disgrace, Ms Gillard told reporters in Singapore.

"That's a disgraceful allegation and it's exactly what we expect from Mr. Abbott: continued negativity," the Prime Minister was quoted by The Associated Press (AP) as saying when queried about the opposition leader's insinuations.

The Coalition has commenced its campaign to permanently strip Slipper off the Speakership post but encountered resistance in winning the votes of independent lawmakers, who opted for the investigations on Slipper to run their full course prior to giving definite decisions.

Such moves analysts said, were precursors to the opposition goal of winning government power a bit earlier.

Reports have emerged too that one of the independent MPs, Rob Oakeshott, could be tapped as the next likely Speaker in the event that the criminal charges against Slipper flourishes, which could lead to his eventual exit from the Parliament.

Another key independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, appears more bent on pushing for his legislative agenda, specifically his pokies reform bill, than swinging his support to the Liberals, which need at least 76 votes to oust both Slipper and the federal government.