'Australians were murdered ... I am going to shirt-front Mr Putin'

Mr Abbott's vow to confront Mr Putin over the loss of Australian lives in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 marks an escalation of tension between the two nations over the tragedy.

He told reporters on Monday he would tell Mr Putin that Australians were murdered by Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine when MH17 was shot down, and that ''we are very unhappy about this''.

The Prime Minister was in Queensland, where he opened a $3.9 billion coalmine in the state's centre and defied predictions of the commodity's demise, saying: ''Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in Australia, and right around the world.''

Mr Abbott said he accepted that Russia had not wanted the tragedy to occur but ''we now demand that you [Russia] fully co-operate with the criminal investigation''.

''I'm going to shirt-front Mr Putin,'' he said. ''I am going to be saying to Mr Putin Australians were murdered.

''There'll be a lot of tough conversations with Russia and I suspect the conversation I have with Mr Putin will be the toughest conversation of all.''

A shirt-front is a front-on charge designed to knock an opponent to the ground. It is commonly used in the AFL.

Mr Abbott was one of the most vocal critics of Russia in the days after the MH17 tragedy, sparking suggestions Mr Putin may not come to the November summit. But the Russian leader is now expected to make the trip.

The Prime Minister's comments came just hours after Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Putin should ''show enough conscience'' not to come to the G20 summit, accusing the Russian President of ''rubbing our faces'' in the aftermath of MH17 by making the trip.

Speaking to reporters in Melbourne, Mr Shorten said he understood the government could not act unilaterally to prevent Mr Putin from attending an international conference.

But he believed most Australians would not welcome the Russian President's visit and ''laying out the red carpet'' was not the way to ''deal with an international bully''.

''There's plenty of evidence to indicate indirect if not direct Russian involvement in the shooting down of this plane which saw hundreds of souls snatched away from their families, with no justification or rationale,'' Mr Shorten said.

''How is it that [Mr Putin] will thumb his nose at the rest of the world, go wherever he wants without there being any repercussions or any co-operation with the independent investigation as to how this happened? I believe Putin knows more about what happened with MH17 than he's let on.''

Mr Shorten added that he would not meet the Russian leader while he was in Australia.

On Sunday, Mr Abbott said it was not in Australia's power to go against a consensus of the G20's members and ban an individual leader from attending, after Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed on the ABC's Insiders program that Mr Putin would be present.

Mr Abbott acknowledged that some Australians would be angry to see him shake the Russian leader's hand but he would be seeking an ''assurance from him that he and Russia will do everything they can to ensure that now, at least, justice is done''.

The Russian embassy was contacted for comment.