Tony Abbott declares himself a 'good captain' of the Government as Joe Hockey warns colleagues against complaining about PM

Updated

Tony Abbott has declared himself "a very good captain" of the Government's team, at the end of the most punishing week of his tenure as Prime Minister.

The decision to knight Prince Philip on Australia Day set off an internal storm in the Coalition which has rocked Mr Abbott's leadership to its foundations.

Mr Abbott is now trying to get back to his main game, focusing on jobs and families.

He was in the Victorian town of Colac on Friday, using dairy exporters Bulla Foods as a backdrop to demonstrate how Australians would benefit from the Government's free trade deals.

But he was dogged by leadership questions and was asked why both his Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, and Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, ranked above him in polls on preferred prime minister.

"This is a very strong team," he said. "And one of the reasons why so many members of the team are able to perform so well is because they've got a very good captain.

"It takes a good captain to help all the players of a team to excel."

Following these comments, a Government source wanted it known that the Prime Minister had a large hand in the success of Ms Bishop in Foreign Affairs and Scott Morrison in Immigration, as these matters were decided in the National Security Committee of Cabinet, which Mr Abbott chairs.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Australians had had a gutful of Mr Abbott and his Government.

"Frankly, the captain of the Titanic would look good standing next to Tony Abbott," he said.

But Mr Abbott again conceded his misstep on Australia Day had dismayed many, including his own team.

"I'm sure if I went into the pub to talk about it they'd say it was a stuff up," Mr Abbott said.

"I'd take that on the chin and then we'd move on and discuss other subjects, and that's exactly what I propose to do today."

It is a message aimed at the disgruntled in his own ranks, as much as to the nation.

Mr Abbott has been on the phone to his backbench trying to quell the disquiet and is promising to be more consultative.

One senior Coalition source told the ABC that, from now on, MPs would have much better access to the leader.

Treasurer Joe Hockey also weighed in on Friday with a message for those who might be contemplating change, saying the Coalition risked repeating the mistakes of Labor.

"Everyone's entitled to a view, but I would just say to people we do not want to become a carbon copy of a bad Labor government, the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government," Mr Hockey told reporters in Sydney's far west.

In the words of one Coalition MP, so far the unrest is limited to "privates and corporals" and there is no general emerging to lead them.

None of the possible leadership contenders are agitating for change and most MPs and senators are willing their leader to succeed.

But some are scathing, saying he is terminal and that there is now no way he can reconnect with the electorate.

Abbott faces testing times

And there are challenging times ahead for Mr Abbott.

The next comes today, as Queensland goes to the polls.

Insiders from both camps expect a big swing back to Labor and there is a very real possibility Premier Campbell Newman will lose his seat.

There has been chatter among federal Liberal National MPs that, should the result be worse than expected, Mr Abbott will be made to wear some of the blame.

A bad result in Queensland would set an uncomfortable backdrop to Mr Abbott's speech to the National Press Club on Monday.

The speech is designed to press the reset button and set the tone and themes for the year.

In a show of unity, it is expected a strong contingent of ministers will be in attendance.

The most avid and critical viewers will be Coalition backbenchers.

The next test will be the first Newspoll of the year, which is the one barometer of the public's mood that all professional politicians trust.

The poll is due to return to the pages of The Australian newspaper shortly and the Government is bracing for a bad result.

Then there is there is the resumption of Parliament on Monday week and the mood of the Coalition MPs and senators will be grim when the joint party meets on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister might well face some uncomfortable questions from his team, should some of the tough talk be backed by action.

Topics: federal-government, liberals, government-and-politics, royal-and-imperial-matters, hockey-joe, abbott-tony, australia

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