Tony Abbott has warned cabinet ministers they face consequences if they are caught leaking, as he sought to draw a line under government divisions on same-sex marriage and urged colleagues to stay on-message.
The prime minister emphasised the need for cabinet discipline during a meeting of the Coalition joint party room meeting on Tuesday.
But the cabinet did not resolve a clear way forward on same-sex marriage when it met on Monday night, and with no cabinet meeting scheduled for next week there is the potential for the issue to drag on.
The comment about cabinet ministers facing consequences was interpreted by some MPs as an attempt to appease backbenchers who have been dismayed about the public divisions at the highest levels of government about the form and timing of a community vote on same-sex marriage.
George Brandis, Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull have publicly rejected Scott Morrison’s proposal for a referendum, arguing it was unnecessary because the parliament already had the power to legislate for same-sex marriage without any constitutional change. The alternative to a referendum is a plebiscite – a non-binding vote of the entire population.
Abbott said he was proud of the spirit of the Coalition’s discussion about the issue at the special six-hour party room meeting last week. He said the government had decided to continue its existing position in this term of parliament and would put it to the people during the next term.
Abbott indicated he would soon take a proposal to cabinet on the form of that vote.
“Political atmospherics change from day to day and week to week but the fundamentals of the government are very sound,” he said.
In a comment about the need for the government - including cabinet - to stay disciplined, Abbott told the meeting: “The onus is on all of us but we owe a particular duty to marginal seat holders not to let you down.”
A Coalition MP pleaded for unity, saying the government had not been as collegial as it should have been in the past few weeks.
The deputy prime minister and leader of the Nationals, Warren Truss, said the government needed to work as a team and “our focus must be on jobs and growth”.
The deputy Liberal leader and senior West Australian MP, Julie Bishop, stressed the need for discipline ahead of the Canning byelection on 19 September. A Newspoll published in the Australian on Tuesday suggested the Coalition was set to suffer a big swing against it in the WA seat but might narrowly retain it.
Bishop said the late former member, Don Randall, had attracted a strong personal vote. She said the key issue in the byelection would be jobs and it was a fight the Coalition needed to win.
The Coalition’s party room meeting also included an extensive discussion on the China-Australia free trade agreement, which has been the target of campaigns by unions warning against labour movement provisions and has prompted Labor to demand changes to the proposed deal.
The trade minister, Andrew Robb, spoke to the meeting about efforts to counter those claims. Abbott said Labor was wrong to try to “clobber” the free trade agreement.
In Labor’s caucus meeting, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, portrayed the Coalition as a rabble.
“This government is paralysed by Tony Abbott’s captain’s picks,” Shorten told Labor MPs and senators. “They will be wondering whether it’s time to give up on the captain’s pick and instead pick a new captain.”
Shorten also objected to Abbott’s proposal to have a referendum or aplebiscite on same-sex marriage some time after the next election, due in 2016.
“The government wants to plunge this nation into a divisive debate, to conduct a taxpayer-funded opinion poll to tell us all what we already know,” Shorten said.
Ministers met on Monday night without a single formal cabinet submission to consider, fuelling concerns about the government’s direction.
