Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Tony Abbott will never be able to convince some of his Liberal colleagues that he should remain in the top job.
The Prime Minister has just returned from a whirlwind trip to New Zealand which was largely overshadowed by a fresh round of leadership speculation.
Speaking on the ABC’s Insiders program this morning, Mr Frydenberg said he did not think the party should change leaders now, saying Mr Abbott deserved more time to turn the party’s fortunes around.
“There’s certainly going to be members of my own side who want to see a change in leader,” he said.
“But I don’t think anything the Prime Minister does will convince them that he should stay in the role.
“If he delivered the Gettysburg address, if he won a Nobel Prize, they’d still take the position that they want a change in leader.
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“My view is though, that that is a minority view”.
Mr Abbott survived a leadership spill motion 61 votes to 39 just over a fortnight ago but the Prime Minister’s party room critics are growing anxious about his ability to change.
Both frontbenchers and backbenchers have told the ABC they believe Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull now has the numbers to win a leadership challenge and should use them.
When asked by reporters this morning whether he would challenge Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull said he did not want to “engage in a hypothetical discussion”.