Mr Porter resigned as a minister after revealing mystery legal donors helped to fund his defamation action over reporting by the ABC of a historical rape allegation.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke on Monday moved a motion for the MP for the Western Australian seat of Pearce to be be referred to the privileges committee to determine if he acted in contempt of parliament.

"This is not a case of an MP making an honest mistake. This is not a case of carelessness. This is a deliberate and calculated attempt to avoid the entire purpose of the (members' interests) registry," Mr Burke told the House of Representatives.

"What the member for Pearce has done renders the register of members' interests completely worthless - if permitted, this behaviour empowers other MPs to create such a trust as a means of escaping the disclosure obligations.

"At its worst, it provides a means for MPs to get around laws that prohibit foreign donations. Indeed, the only assurance we have that the member for Pearce has not done such a thing is because he simply says he has not."

Speaker Tony Smith indicated he would consider the motion and report back to parliament.

Mr Porter resigned as a minister in September insisting he had not breached ministerial standards, but conceding the saga amounted to a "very unhelpful distraction" for the coalition.

He maintained the trustee had reassured him no money had originated from lobbyists or prohibited foreign entities.

In March, he named himself as the cabinet minister the subject of the ABC story about the alleged 1988 rape of a now-deceased woman.

Mr Porter vigorously denied the allegation and launched legal action against the public broadcaster that settled before trial.

Australian Associated Press