Julie Bishop not campaigning for PM's job, stops short of warning MPs not to call spill

Updated

Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop has refused to counsel any colleagues considering moving a spill motion against the Prime Minister.

Ms Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull are the two MPs most likely to take over if Mr Abbott is deposed.

Ms Bishop has a strong power base in Western Australia, where there are a number of MPs unhappy with Mr Abbott's leadership.

When asked what advice she would give to any MPs considering moving a spill motion at Tuesday's party room meeting, Ms Bishop did not offer any.

"No, I don't have any advice to my colleagues because they are elected members of Parliament and they will take whatever action they see fit," she said.

"But my overall message is this, we are a united team and we can achieve a great deal as a team.

"We cannot say what one of the 102 members of the Liberal Party will seek to do," she added.

"I can't read people's minds but what I can say is I'm not campaigning for the job of Prime Minister."

Treasurer Joe Hockey says he is not aware of any MP preparing to move a spill motion, and Mr Abbott has told Macquarie Radio he does not think there would be a spill.

Earlier Education Minister Christopher Pyne moved to clarify remarks he made about the Prime Minister's leadership this morning, saying the media had "completely overreacted".

Mr Pyne had told Channel Nine he "hoped" Tony Abbott would still be Prime Minister after next week's Liberal party room meeting but said he did not know if a spill motion would be moved.

"The media appear to have completely overreacted to what I regarded as entirely unremarkable comments and obviously my position is totally unchanged," Mr Pyne told Sky News later in the morning.

"I don't believe that there should be a spill motion on Tuesday, I don't believe Tony Abbott should be replaced as leader of the Liberal Party."

Standing alongside Ms Bishop during a press conference in Adelaide, he later blamed his earlier remarks on tiredness.

Mr Abbott himself told Macquarie Radio he did not think there would be a spill.

"Well I'm not expecting it, I'm expecting business as usual because this a Government with a very full agenda," he said.

"I'm expecting just to get on with business and I'm confident that I have the full support of the Cabinet."

Asked if he had spoken to the "dissidents" in his party room agitating for change, Mr Abbott said, "I don't know who these so-called dissidents are, I just know that if people have got a criticism, I encourage them to call me up and we talk about it."

Several Liberal MPs have indicated they would support a leadership spill but so far none has been prepared to move one.

This morning Victorian Liberal Sharman Stone became the latest MP to call for the issue to come to a head, saying it should be dealt with decisively next week.

"The public's giving me loud and clear messages, they do want to see a change," she told the ABC.

Dr Stone said voters rejected Labor over leadership uncertainty and party disunity, and the speculation over the leadership had to end to limit any damage at the ballot box.

"I want to make sure that what ever happens, whether Tony continues with as he says a renewed sense of what needs to be done, or we've got a new leader, we've got to make sure we don't have Labor back in town as the Australian Government in 18 months time," she said.

Later in the Macquarie Radio interview Mr Abbott was asked to tell describe who the "real Tony Abbott" was.

Mr Abbott said he was the father of three daughters, a volunteer firefighter and a surf lifesaver before declaring, "most of all I am the Prime Minister of our country and I am spending every ounce of energy, I am dedicating every fibre of my being to ensure this country flourishes".

Turnbull says Abbott enjoys 'utter loyalty'

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, viewed as a likely replacement for Mr Abbott, yesterday said the Prime Minister had enjoyed "utter loyalty" from his frontbenchers ever since he became Opposition leader.

"There is no tension between Tony and his senior colleagues, it is a very cohesive team and we are all supportive," Mr Turnbull told a "politics in the pub" forum on the New South Wales central coast.

"He is not being undermined.

"He has had remarkable consistency, loyalty ... lack of rivalry."

Mr Abbott told Sky he believed Mr Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's public assurances of support.

"They are my Cabinet colleagues, they are my friends," he said.

"I've known them both for a long time, I've worked closely with them for a long time.

"I've worked closely with them for a long time, you always have your ups and downs, that's natural when you've got strong personalities talking about the most difficult decisions any country can face, but I trust them."

Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, liberals, political-parties, abbott-tony, turnbull-malcolm, australia

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