Senior ministers have brushed aside rumours of ructions within the cabinet following Julie Bishop’s visible dissatisfaction with a speech Joe Hockey delivered in parliament on Monday.
The foreign minister rolled her eyes and put her hand to her forehead when the treasurer mentioned the expenditure review committee (ERC) in his condolence speech marking the death of Malcolm Fraser.
This followed a leak to the Australian suggesting the foreign aid budget would be slashed further in the upcoming budget. Bishop said she would bring up the source of the leak with Hockey.
The communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said Bishop’s reaction in parliament had been “taken out of proportion”.
“There has never been an optical movement more sensationalised than Julie Bishop’s eye roll,” he said. “I don’t think that indicates any deep tensions between the two.”
The industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, also brushed aside the eye roll, saying it was indicative of the “robust” nature of the Coalition partyroom.
Turnbull said Hockey was “making an ironic point” by highlighting the ERC in his speech.
“It is hated and despised by every other department because it is the place where you go and they tell you you can’t spend the money on the things you want to do. That’s why it’s call the razor gang,” Turnbull said of the ERC. “Joe was engaging in some black humour.”
“He was inviting people to roll their eyes, grimace, groan. So Julie responded in exactly the way he wanted her to.”
Bishop refused to comment on her actions directly when questioned on Monday night, saying only that “the mention of the Expenditure Review Committee can have a different impact on different people”.
Bishop said she understood no cuts would be made to her portfolio.
“I welcome that news. We have a significant challenge in front of us to ensure our budget is delivered effectively and efficiently. I’m pleased there won’t be uncertainty surrounding that,” she said.
Turnbull said the leak on cuts to the foreign aid budget were wrong.
“We are six or seven weeks from the budget, and if there were any major cuts or changes to anybody’s portfolio, the minister would know about it, certainly well before now,” he said.
The Coalition has already taken $11bn out of the foreign aid budget, prompting concern from several aid organisations.
