The leader of the government in the Senate, Eric Abetz, has accused cabinet colleagues who leak to the media of being “gutless” and in breach of the rules.
“I talk to my colleagues face-to-face or not at all. I’m not one of those people that has unattributed comments in the media,” Abetz told ABC radio on Wednesday. “One, I think it’s gutless. Two, it’s a breach of the rules. And so if somebody is gutless and in breach of the rules, one really wonders why a journalist even bothers to repeat comments from such an individual.”
Despite his tough words, Abetz said “things are going exceptionally well with the government’s agenda”, but that every now and then unfortunate “breakouts” of cabinet solidarity occurred.
On Tuesday Tony Abbott read the riot act to ministers, warning them that anyone caught leaking about internal party processes would face consequences.
The government has suffered a bruising few weeks, as divisions on same-sex marriage have played out in public.
On Wednesday, Abbott stuck to the script of highlighting economic concerns.
“Everyone knows what the rules are,” he said on Wednesday. “But the important thing is that every day this government is focused on jobs, growth and community safety.”
He conceded the past few weeks had been tough.
“There is a sense that every day is testing for the government, for ministers and prime ministers,” he said.
The treasurer, Joe Hockey, said most cabinet members were getting on with the job, but conceded “there has been a temptation for some to pass comment on other issues”.
The focus, he told Macquarie Radio’s Neil Mitchell, was on “jobs, jobs, jobs”, and while “unquestionably there’s more work to be done”, the government would have “the political will to do what is right for the economy”.
