Bishop may be the third most senior person in the ministry, with the best death stare in the country, but even she cannot escape Credlin's control. Peta Credlin, chief of staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, in discussion with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop inside Parliament House in June. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen staff has been a hot potato topic this week, with some government MPs complaining Credlin is out of control. On Friday, in an extraordinary move, Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended Credlin on ABC News Breakfast by telling colleagues who have been criticising her to "take a long hard look at themselves". He also whipped out the politically fraught argument that she is being criticised because she is a woman.

of staff would be under this kind of criticism her name was P-E-T-E-R as opposed to P-E-T-A?" Abbott asked. Peta Credlin and Tony Abbott during the 2013 federal election campaign. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen As far as Liberal advisers go, you would be hard-pressed to find one with Credlin's clout and pedigree. The Melbourne University law graduate has been around the federal political scene for 15 years - first as a staffer to a bevy of senior Liberals including Robert Hill and Helen Coonan, before moving to the offices of the last three Liberal leaders (she earned nickname of "cockroach" for her ability to survive leadership changes) . Since 2002, she has also been married to Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane. And while Credlin is well known around Canberra as one of, if not the most important, figure behind the scenes, she is increasingly appearing in front. Tony Abbott has smacked down Coalition critics of his chief of staff, accusing them of sexism. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Credlin is universally credited as the person who led Tony Abbott into office. But along with high-profile pieces before the election about her IVF struggles and a court appearance for drink-driving, reports have increasingly popped up about ministers and backbenchers grumbling about damaging strategic missteps and the level of control she has across government. This week, the discontent bubbled over with reports of Bishop feeling the need to get around Credlin by going to cabinet to get approval to go to a climate change conference. And of the two getting on like "Siamese fighting fish". Even conservative columnists have begun to opine that Abbott needs to "fix" the Credlin situation. Even conservative columnists have begun to opine that Abbott needs to "fix" the Credlin situation But is this fair? There are three schools of thought in government circles about Credlin.

The first is that a large chunk of the Coalition's woes can be attributed to Credlin's control freakery, that Abbott is too close to be objective about his long-time adviser, and that he needs a new chief of staff – or at least a significantly revamped one. Fairfax Media spoke to backbench and frontbench Liberals this week who expressed dismay that they keep hearing about major policy announcements for the first time via leaks from the Prime Minister's office (the " PMO") to the media. Some ministers are even finding out about major developments in their own portfolios this way. There is also a strong suspicion that the PMO has been briefing the media against other ministers. Then, there is both cringing and concern that Credlin is so visible. The unwritten rule in Canberra is that political advisers should be heard by politicians but not by the public, and certainly never "seen". Eyebrows were well and truly raised this week when in response to reports that she was seeking a parliamentary gig, Credlin provocatively replied "not at this time". The second school of thought is that Credlin is a proxy for disenchantment about the government's performance. Credlin herself would say she is not responsible for the stuff-ups of other ministers - after all, she didn't instruct Joe Hockey to say that poor people don't drive. Coalition frontbencher Jamie Briggs – who worked with Credlin when they were advisers in the Howard years – describes the "feeding frenzy" around her as "ridiculous". "I'm not sure what the issue is," he says, arguing that as a junior minister, "she doesn't tell me what to do."

The Assistant Infrastructure Minister also points out that Credlin is "entitled to disagree with people", while noting that anything she does is on the Prime Minister's behalf anyway. Briggs is scathing that ministers are not coming to Credlin direct with their issues – choosing to background journalists instead. "If they've got any balls, they would go and talk to her herself." Then there is a third theory that Credlin is copping undue flak because she is a woman. Abbott is not the only one arguing this. One of the most senior Liberal women in Parliament, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, agrees that Credlin is being judged more harshly than her male counterparts would. "Tough women in politics have a hard time of it," the NSW Senator says. Other Liberal women are quietly seething about the treatment that Credlin is receiving both in and outside the government, with one describing it as "grossly unfair". Liberal staffers who have worked closely with Credlin credit her as a prodigiously hard worker – even by Parliament House standards – who is a straight talker, stands her ground and does not hold grudges. They speak admiringly of her efforts to mentor other women. Loading Whichever Credlin theory is correct, the danger for the government is that the most dramatic one will dominate regardless. Indeed, the photo where Credlin is seemingly "having a go" at Bishop is not about Iraq or the budget or any government business at all. It's said the chief of staff was simply complimenting the Foreign Minister on her new pearls.