LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The leaks keep coming thick and fast from within the Abbott Government.

Today, a document was leaked revealing what ministers had been instructed to say if they were asked about cabinet leaking.

A senior minister says whoever's dropping the inside information to the media is gutless and it's just a day after the Prime Minister read the riot act to cabinet about pulling together.

Tony Abbott is trying to push on with the business of government, trying to secure Senate support for a bill aimed at barring green groups from using the courts to block major development projects.

Political correspondent Sabra Lane reports.

TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER: My message is that the Government is getting on with jobs and growth and community safety every day. ... Wherever you look, the Government is supporting jobs and growth and Bill Shorten is sabotaging jobs and growth.

SABRA LANE, REPORTER: The Federal Government's saddled up for a number of shootouts. On one front, it's targeting the union movement's campaign against the free trade deal with China.

TONY ABBOTT: The CFMEU every day is claiming that this will cost jobs. Wrong. This will create jobs.

SABRA LANE: On another, it's focused on environmental groups and what it calls "lawfare". It's determined to remove from the law the legal avenue one group's used to stop a $16 billion Adani coal mine in Queensland.

BARNABY JOYCE, AGRICULTURE MINISTER: The idea that, whatever it is, a special snake and a skink is gonna put at risk the working men and women of Central Queensland I think is perverse.

TONY ABBOTT: And I say again: where does Bill Shorten stand? Does he want the Carmichael mine to go ahead or does he not?

SABRA LANE: As has become the pattern, the jobs message was diluted by internal gun-slingers who are still leaking stories of Government dysfunction.

JOURNALIST: So are you worried about your prime ministership?

TONY ABBOTT: Well, what I'm worried about is jobs and growth.

ERIC ABETZ, EMPLOYMENT MINISTER: 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.

SABRA LANE: On the Government's battle with green groups, it's moving to limit who can take legal action to stop major mining projects from going ahead, saying it's tantamount to national sabotage.

BEN OQUIST, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE: I think it's a political distraction because the political facts don't stack up. There's been 5,500 projects under the EPBC Act. Only 22 of those projects have involved a third party appeal. Only six of those have been successful and only two of those have stopped a project.

SABRA LANE: Earlier this month, the Federal Court set aside approval for the huge Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland after a conservation group sought judicial review. The court's actions were supported by all parties involved.

But the Government's now seeking to amend the EPBC Act to stop anyone who has no immediate involvement from taking such legal action and restricting that right to those directly affected.

BEN OQUIST: What it will mean is that already weak environmental law won't be able to be upheld in a proper way. Remember we're talking about appeal rights to uphold the law; not some new law, but just to uphold the law. And you'd think the Government would be about upholding the law. Third party appeal rights are important not just for the environment, but they prevent against corruption. The NSW ICAC has actually called for an extension of third party appeal rights as a bulwark and a safeguard against corruption. So whether you care about the environment or whether you just care about due process or whether you care about corruption, you should want the law upheld.

SABRA LANE: The Opposition and Greens say they won't support it, meaning the Government needs the votes of six of the eight Senate crossbenchers, and so far, two of them have indicated that's unlikely.

Glenn Lazarus says he's against it and John Madigan doesn't support the current plan. Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm does.

DAVID LEYONHJELM, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY SENATOR: My party, the Liberal Democrats, we're libertarians and we support private property. This is - this enhanced standing allows anyone, basically, to interfere in someone else's private property. So if you want to establish a wind farm in Western Australia, somebody in Queensland could say, "Well I'm going to take legal action to try to stop that." It's that kind of thing. It applies to coal mines as well as wind farms of course.

SABRA LANE: It's not just green groups that could be affected. The National Farmers' Federation is yet to decide whether it supports the changes. It says farmers must have access to courts to ensure their interests are fully considered during environmental protection assessments.

The Prime Minister appeared confident today that Parliament will support the move, but yet again, his message was lost among more talk about leaks. Today, a Government email advising ministers on how to answer questions about cabinet process, with the response, "It's functioning exceptionally well," was leaked. It became Question Time fodder.

BILL SHORTEN, OPPOSITION LEADER: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the Government is functioning so exceptionally well that cabinet ministers immediately leaked this document?

TONY ABBOTT: What I'm not gonna do is accept lectures on cabinet solidarity from a leader of the Opposition who backstabbed two prime ministers. He backstabbed two prime ministers because they couldn't run an effective government.

SABRA LANE: The Prime Minister dominated Question Time, seemingly undaunted by the pressure.

TONY ABBOTT: That smirking phoney over there, that smirking phoney over there, that assassin, the two-time - the two-time Sussex Street assassin.

SABRA LANE: The Government will face a test next month with a by-election in the seat of Canning in Western Australia, due to the death of Liberal MP Don Randall. Normally, governments face swings against them of about five per cent in by-elections. Mr Randall had a margin of 11 and he had a strong personal following.

Labor's talking down its prospects of winning. But it will be litmus test for the Government and the Prime Minister. A loss would shake both.

One minister has told 7.30 voters might use the poll as an opportunity, safe in the knowledge a loss won't cause the Government to fall, but would send it and the Prime Minister a very powerful message.

TONY ABBOTT: Look, there's a sense in which every day is testing for governments, for prime ministers, for ministers.

LEIGH SALES: Sabra Lane reporting.