Tony Abbott's government is more "chaotic than a Tupperware cupboard", Labor claims, but a key minister thinks the Prime Minister is a potential John Howard, capable of staging a political comeback.

The government's first two parliamentary sitting weeks after the long winter break have been plagued by cabinet and internal leaks, despite Mr Abbott warning of "consequences" for any ministers caught straying from the official line and offering alternative views.

The scenario is similar to the instability and infighting that beset the former Labor government, but that has not stopped opposition MPs from capitalising on the Coalition's woes.