Government frontbencher Eric Abetz has railed against reports he labelled Cabinet colleagues who anonymously leak to the media "gutless".

It is the second time in as many days Senator Abetz has argued his words have been taken out of context, after an interview on the ABC's AM program.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned there "would be consequences" for ministers who leaked or spoke out against government policy.

In the interview on Wednesday morning, Senator Abetz was asked whether the Government was presenting a united front after the Prime Minister cautioned the Coalition party room.

He was asked what he thought the motivations were for the leaks.

"Well, I'm not going to comment on those sort of matters. I talk to my colleagues face to face or not at all," Senator Abetz replied.

Sorry, this video has expired Government leaks 'gutless' says Abetz ( Michael Brissenden )

"I'm not one of those people that has unattributed comments in the media.

"One, I think it's gutless. Two, it's a breach of the rules.

"And so if somebody is gutless and in breach of the rules, one really wonders why a journalist even bothers to repeat comments from such an individual."

Today in Senate Question Time, WA Labor senator Glenn Sterle grilled the Employment Minister on the comments.

STERLE:

I refer to the minister's denial yesterday that he described his Cabinet colleagues as gutless. Given that the footage has run nationally showing the minister saying "I think it's gutless" that his colleagues leak from Cabinet, will he now correct the record? ABETZ:

What I said and what I tried to say on a clear and regular basis is that I make comments on the basis of principle, not on the basis of personality. And my comment was that those people that provide unattributed comments, and that is the exact quote, those people - I did not say as you have falsely asserted, Cabinet colleagues that make, I didn't say that. I said those that make unattributed comments, and that is a statement of principle by which I stand. And guess what? The ABC surprise, surprise misquotes me. What a shock. What a shock. That's never happened to me before. Never happened to me before. It is no surprise that the ABC has clipped and snipped and tried to juxtapose two things in a manner that is not representative. What I said was that those that provide unattributed comments have certain character flaws, and that is what I stand by. STERLE:

I refer to the minister's interjection yesterday claiming "no-one in this chamber is responsible for the Cabinet leaks." So which of his Cabinet colleagues in the House of Representatives is he pointing the finger at? ABETZ:

None.

Yesterday Glenn Sterle was also the protagonist during Question Time, asking Senator Abetz about the comments.

"Senator Sterle has fallen into the trap, and regrettably taken the lead from Senator [Doug] Cameron and others, to misquote," Senator Abetz said.

"All I said, and I've got the transcript right in front of me, all I said was 'I am not one of those people who have unattributed comments in the media'."

Senator Abetz did not go onto his next response from the transcript, which was when the term 'gutless' appeared.