Liberal leadership: Josh Frydenberg says Tony Abbott will never be able to convince some colleagues he should remain Prime Minister

Updated

Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Tony Abbott will never be able to convince some of his Liberal colleagues that he should remain in the top job.

Speaking on the ABC's Insiders program, Mr Frydenberg said he did not think the party should change leaders now and "hoped" there would not be another spill motion moved in the party room.

"There's certainly going to be members of my own side who want to see a change in leader," he said.

"But I don't think anything the Prime Minister does will convince them that he should stay in the role.

"If he delivered the Gettysburg address, if he won a Nobel Prize, they'd still take the position that they want a change in leader.

"My view is though, that that is a minority view".

Mr Frydenberg urged his colleagues to give Mr Abbott some "clear air", saying he deserved time to turn the party's fortunes around.

Attending a Clean Up Australia Day event in Shell Cove on Sunday, Mr Abbott acknowledged it was not possible to please everyone all of the time, but dismissed the latest leadership speculation as an "insider obsession".

"This is just recycled rubbish and on a day like Clean Up Australia Day, let's put it in the bag and get rid of it," he said.

"We went through all of this a few weeks ago, the matter was settled and we're now getting on with Government.

"Every day you will see further and stronger evidence that this a Government which is focused on governing in the best interests of the whole people of our country."

Mr Abbott survived a leadership spill motion 61 votes to 39 just over a fortnight ago but the Prime Minister's party room critics are growing anxious about his ability to change.

Both Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are being urged to contest the leadership, if another spill motion is moved and the position is declared vacant.

Ms Bishop's supporters told the ABC she should run because the party room wanted to see a contest and should be given a choice of alternative leader.

They said Ms Bishop was seen as a "healer, not a divider" and had been both a good minister and a loyal deputy leader.

Frontbenchers and backbenchers told the ABC they believed Mr Turnbull had the numbers to win a leadership challenge but it was understood he was not inclined to bring the matter to a head and risk being seen as Mr Abbott's assassin.

Mr Turnbull's backers said if Mr Abbott's former supporters believed his position had become untenable, then they should confront him and tell him to go.

They want the Prime Minister to resign, believing that is the cleanest way and in the best interest of the party, but they doubt he will.

Turnbull says focus should be on NSW state election

When asked by reporters this morning whether he would challenge Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull said he did not want to "engage in a hypothetical discussion".

Mr Turnbull deflected questions about the leadership issue, saying he was firmly focused on the New South Wales state election.

"Whatever questions people have about me, or Tony Abbott or Julie Bishop or Joe Hockey or Scott Morrison or anybody in the federal party, whatever federal issues they've got, the state election is not the time to be responding to them," he said.

"The state election is about the state government, it's not about Tony Abbott, it's about Mike Baird.

"We have to have a laser-like focus on the return of the Baird Government."

Mr Turnbull indicated he was concerned about the impact of federal issues on the state poll, urging voters not to take out their frustrations with the Abbott Government on Mr Baird.

"I stress, do not assume, nobody should assume, that Mike Baird is an absolute certainty to win, he is not," he said.

"It's going to be close and anyone who votes Labor in this state election as a protest against the feds should know that their vote may very well be the one that puts the Eddie Obeid party back into office."

The Prime Minister's office is hoping to maintain the momentum from last week, which featured announcements on national security, foreign investment in property and welfare reform by releasing the intergenerational report, dumping the Medicare co-payment plan and committing additional troops to the fight against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.

While there is a joint party room meeting scheduled for this Tuesday, the Liberal Party room is not due to meet again until Tuesday, March 17, which means it is highly unlikely that a leadership spill motion will be moved this week.

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

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