Tony Abbott is facing growing backbench anger over his government's mishandling of the GP co-payment and university funding changes from last year's budget, as MPs returning from their electorates express frustration over the government's poor standing with voters.

Some described the atmosphere in the government as tending toward "anarchy" because the "command and control" mode by the Prime Minister's office had been shown to be politically hamfisted, prompting leaks from the cabinet, among other problems.

Some government MPs are frustrated with Prime Minister Tony Abbott's handling of recent policy issues.

The higher education reforms now face an uncertain future with any savings evaporating and key Senate crossbenchers saying they remain opposed to the deregulation of university fees even if the Abbott government scraps a planned 20 per cent cut to university funding.

This follows the axing of a planned $20 cut to the Medicare payment to doctors for short consultations just days before it was due to come into effect.