Malcolm Turnbull sidesteps questions about replacing Tony Abbott as PM

Updated

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended himself against public accusations that leadership speculation is further damaging the Liberal Party.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is under intense and sustained pressure as some Coalition MPs publicly call for change and look to those regarded as possible contenders - former leader Mr Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

On Thursday afternoon, Cabinet minister Andrew Robb called for backbenchers to stick with Mr Abbott but declared the leader's "position relies on his performance".

It built on statements made a day earlier by senior Liberal figure Senator Arthur Sinodinos, that his support for Mr Abbott was "not unconditional" and which cast doubt on whether he would be prime minister next week - after Tuesday's crucial party room meeting.

At a "politics in the pub" forum on the New South Wales central coast on Thursday evening, Mr Turnbull was accused by one voter of contributing to the party's woes.

Mr Turnbull rejected suggestions that senior ministers were undermining the Prime Minister, saying the Government remained united.

"Tony has had utter loyalty and consistency from his front bench," he said.

"He has had more consistency and loyalty from the front bench than any other Liberal leader in our lifetime.

"I mean, all those years of the very successful Howard government, Peter Costello was obviously a potential rival and there were tensions that blew up from time to time.

"There is no tension between Tony and any of his senior colleagues. It is a very, very cohesive team and we are all supportive.

"So he has not been undermined by anybody, by any of his senior colleagues whatsoever."

Earlier, Mr Turnbull sidestepped questions about whether he would like to be prime minister, in his first public comments since backbenchers began calling for Mr Abbott to be replaced.

During a visit to an NBN rollout site in the electorate of Dobell, Mr Turnbull was asked what he believed would happen when MPs gathered on Tuesday.

"We'll see. You'll just have to wait and see," he said.

"There is a lot of forensic commentary and discussion about it, but the fact is that we have a very strong government, very competent government. We're a very united team."

And on whether he would like to be Australia's next prime minister, Mr Turnbull refused to answer but said he was happy being Communications Minister.

"I'm just going to focus on broadband," he said. "We have a very good prime minister in Tony Abbott."

Spill would make Liberals look like a bunch of amateurs: Robb

Trade Minister Andrew Robb said he had "no doubt" Mr Abbott was the best option to turn around the Government's prospects and called on disaffected MPs to give the Prime Minister more time.

"If something happened on Tuesday which led to a spill, we would be seen as a bunch of amateurs," he told Sky TV.

But he said support for any leader was conditional.

"As Tony Abbott has said time and again, his position relies on his performance - he's said it in opposition, he's said it since in government and that's always the case for the leader," he said.

Mr Robb attributed much of the Government's current poor standing to "surprises" in the budget, particularly cuts to education and health, and Mr Abbott's decision to award Prince Philip a knighthood.

"We had promised not to do certain things and we did it," he said.

"They all added to this tendency to not take people with us and the Prince Philip issue was a symbol of the types of surprises that people didn't expect."

The ABC has phoned dozens of Coalition MPs and can identify 10 who would support a spill motion, while another 20 could be described as highly disaffected or harbouring deep concerns.

Mr Abbott said he trusted the assurances of support from Mr Turnbull and Ms Bishop.

"They are my cabinet colleagues, they are my friends," he told Sky TV.

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

Earlier, he said he was "very confident" he would survive any move against him next week.

Treasurer Joe Hockey delivered an impassioned plea to Coalition MPs to focus on the job and not on the leader.

"Stop engaging in commentary on colleagues. Stop engage in commentary on the leadership. Focus on fixing the country," he said.

"Because by God that is the job we have been elected to do."

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

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