The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has hit back at members of his party for questioning Australia’s security chief, Duncan Lewis, over claims he advised Coalition MPs to tone down their language on Islam.

Earlier in the week, some Coalition MPs had questioned whether it was appropriate for Lewis, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), to caution MPs over their use of language critical of radical Islam.

On Friday Turnbull revealed that Lewis had spoken to only two MPs: a former soldier, Andrew Hastie, and the head of the parliamentary committee on intelligence, Dan Tehan.

Neither had publicly criticised Lewis’s call.

“I understand Duncan Lewis recently has spoken to two MPs. Only two, and neither of them have been complaining about him or have been referred to in the media,” Turnbull told reporters during his first visit to Japan as prime minister.

“I assume Duncan talks to all the time is Dan Tehan ... And Dan is talking too, as he should; that’s his job.”

Turnbull said Lewis is “well-informed” and “experienced” and that his experience should be heeded.

“There are some people like to express theories about terrorism. Theories about religions and so forth. That’s fine, they’re entitled to do that. Duncan Lewis has actually fought against terrorism. He has led soldiers against terrorism. He is defending Australia today,” he said. “His advice should be heeded.

“If people think that they know better, fine, let them do so. It’s a free country. But from my point of view, as the prime minister, I rely on the advice of my security chiefs.”

Turnbull implied that comments about radical Islam, made by many of his Coalition colleagues over the past few months, were not helping efforts to keep the country safe.

“Everything I do is calculated, is deliberately calculated, on my part, to make the work of the AFP, Asio and the other security services – including the state police forces – to make their work better able to be done,” he said.

He denied that he had directed Lewis to contact Coalition MPs.



“I haven’t asked him to give any advice to anybody in particular but I encourage Duncan Lewis to speak to as many people as he can,” Turnbull said.

A former frontbencher, Eric Abetz, who was dumped from the ministry after Turnbull took the prime ministership from Tony Abbott, said Lewis’s advice was “unwise” but “motivated by the best intentions”.

“It now, regrettably, embroils Mr Lewis in the discussions in circumstances where I believe it is best for him not to be embroiled,” Abetz told Sky News on Friday.

More conservative members of the Coalition used stronger words, saying Lewis’s advice impinged on MPs’ freedom of speech.

“To say something is off limits and should not be discussed is extremely anti-democratic,” a Liberal backbencher, Dennis Jensen, told the Australian newspaper. “It’s really a slippery slope.”

The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, defended Lewis.

“If the director general of Asio has formed the view that a public debate in Australia has the potential to hamper the work that his organisation is undertaking in relation to counter-terrorism then of course it’s appropriate for him to speak out,” she said on Thursday.

Tehan also defended the Asio chief, saying he had “every right” to approach MPs.

“He can take any appropriate action that he thinks is necessary to keep the nation secure,” Tehan said. “Duncan Lewis is doing an excellent job in keeping Australia safe.”

Turnbull has previously slapped down Coalition MPs for their criticism of Islam, reiterating his call for mutual respect to be at the heart of the debate on terrorism.