Opposition Leader Sussan Ley denies being behind leaks critical of a leadership aspirant as Labor seizes on internal divisions within the coalition.
Comments by former Liberal leader Peter Dutton for the party's election review taking aim at the performance of Andrew Hastie were leaked to the media days after the West Australian MP quit the front bench in order for him to speak more freely on immigration policy.
Mr Hastie has been touted as a future leader of the Liberal Party, but the opposition leader said she was "absolutely not" behind the leak.
"I've obviously explained to my party room processes that related to the review, and there have been take outs by the media and commentators as you would expect," she told Nine's Today program on Thursday.
"I don't go into those internal conversations or what is discussed, except to say we do have a vigorous debate about the contest of ideas, which I always welcome."
The review of the federal election defeat is being carried out by party luminaries Pru Goward and Nick Minchin, who spoke to Mr Dutton about the campaign.
The comments followed NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price writing a letter to Ms Ley calling for the leaking to stop and for discipline to be enforced, also suggesting the Liberal Party was a "clown show".
Labor seized on the comments during a fiery question time, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke going on the attack.
"We're never quite sure if the clown show is going to be the scary clown of Pennywise of Stephen King's It or whether they're going to provide Bozo," he told parliament.
"The leader of the opposition from the moment she's come into office has been juggling on a tightrope without a net, while below her, the extreme right are engaging in a knife-throwing event.
"(Andrew Hastie's) no longer a lion tamer, he's broken out of his cage, wandering along the back rows, working out who to attack."
Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said the time for party introspection after the election loss needed to come to an end.
"That period can't be particularly long and I think that Australians want us to focus on the issues that are at hand, and that's certainly what I've been doing," he told ABC Radio.
"We need people to focus on what the Australian people have sent us here to do and that is to hold the government to account."
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the leaking within the coalition showed it was at odds with itself.
"That is an opposition which is hopelessly divided and only focused on themselves," he said.
"Every month or two, another shadow ministry reshuffle with another one on the way. Former shadow ministers writing letters about leaking, and then leaking them."
