Julie Bishop has refused to endorse the role of the prime minister’s powerful chief of staff, Peta Credlin, and said Tony Abbott should take any valid concerns of the party room into account after his “near death experience” leadership spill motion.
Abbott survived the motion to vacate all leadership positions on Monday by 61 votes to 39 and said he was “chastened” by the message. He promised that he, and his office, would be more consultative but he has resisted the mounting calls to remove Credlin or change her role.
“I’m not about to give the prime minister advice on how he should run his office, nor do I expect him to give me advice on how I should run my office,” Bishop told ABC Radio on Tuesday morning.
“But we both heed the views of the party room, and if there are valid concerns then I am confident that the prime minister will take that into account.”
“People have been very frank and blunt on their assessment of the prime minister’s office, and the prime minister is a smart man. He will take this into account,” Bishop said. “The PM must respond to their concerns if they are valid concerns.”
Bishop, who was touted as one of Abbott’s possible leadership rivals, said Credlin was an “indispensable part of our team in opposition” .
“Peta Credlin is a very powerful figure in the sense she’s strong, there’s a lot of opinions, she is very protective of the PM and has been an indispensable part of our team in opposition. The prime minister is very close with Peta, she offers him good advice and they work together as a team.”
The social services minister, Scott Morrison, told reporters that replacing Credlin “was a matter for Tony Abbott”.
“I don’t give him lectures on his staff and he doesn’t give me lectures on mine,” Morrison said.
Abbott will face the Liberal party room on Tuesday morning for the first time since he defeated a spill motion.
He has described the vote of 101 MPs and senators as a “near death experience” and has vowed to learn from it.
“There were lessons in last year. Plainly, we did bite off more than we could chew in some important respects, and what I’m determined to be is much more consultative and collegial this year,” Abbott told ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night.
“We will socialise decisions before we finalise them and that way we’re more likely to take the people with us.”
Backbenchers are expected to air a number of grievances around the Coalition’s policy direction at Tuesday’s meeting, the first since the leadership issue went to a vote.
Many have said they are willing to give Abbott more time, as long as their concerns and grievances are heeded.
Former assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos, who backed the spill motion, said the prime minister can expect a vocal backbench.
“I suspect you’ll find a lot of MPs on their feet raising issues, and the point I’ve made continually over the last week or so, I think there’s a new assertiveness on the backbench,” Sinodinos said.
“The backbench, according to the prime minister, will be more involved in policy making, but I think you’ll find the backbench will also be out there making it clear to the public and others what their policy ideas are, so it’s going to be an interesting time in that sense,” he said.
Dennis Jensen, who also supported the spill motion, said backbenchers have fallen into line behind Abbott after the majority of the party room backed him on Monday.
“This has been something that has been required for the prime minister to actually see the full depth of feeling within the party room in terms of the necessity for that change of style and substance,” Jensen said.
Abbott acknowledged that doctors were angry at the lack of consultation over changes to Medicare, and has said the government will not implement new changes without discussing them with the medical profession first.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten said “there’s no evidence” Bishop or other possible leadership contender Malcolm Turnbull have disagreed with the government’s policy direction.
“This is a government who don’t take advice. They need to sit down with people, they don’t need to be at war with the doctors and nurses. They don’t need to be at war with university students and they certainly shouldn’t be cutting pensions,” Shorten said.
“This is a government more extreme and their personal views are more extreme than the mainstream of Australian society.”
Abbott is also likely to be asked to clarify whether or not South Australian shipbuilders will be given the opportunity to build Australia’s next fleet of submarines.
On Sunday, he promised South Australian MP Sean Edwards that local submariners would be part of a “comprehensive evaluation process”, a term Edwards admits he has never before heard.
Labor probed the government on whether the evaluation process was the same as an open tender during Monday’s Senate question time.
Finance minister Mathias Cormann stepped back from using the term “tender”, but said that deal would be subject to the “proper process” and that the government was committed to getting the best product for the best price.
