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Malcolm Turnbull defends cabinet against far-right pressure

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated he is unlikely to bow in the face of pressure to reshuffle his cabinet and bring in more conservatives.

“My cabinet reflects all traditions in the Liberal party and indeed the National Party. It is a very, very talented and capable cabinet,” he told Fairfax Media when asked if he had enough conservatives.

There have been reports that some senior Liberals are agitating for moderate cabinet ministers to be dumped in favour of conservatives to end dissension in the ranks.

Tensions in the Liberal party have been rising since a recording of senior cabinet minister Christopher Pyne boasting of the moderates’ influence in the government nearly a fortnight ago.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has stepped up his criticism of the direction of the government, and he said on Wednesday that he would not stop.

He’s told his local newspaper, The Manly Daily, that he doesn’t want a job back in cabinet.

“I am very happy being a backbench member of the government because it gives me the freedom to speak as I think best, and it gives me more time to be a very conscious local member.”

He said he had done nothing wrong by talking publicly on policy issues.
“Obviously I support the government, I support the prime minister,” he said.

“I am a member of the government and it has always been the Liberal Party tradition that backbenchers can speak their mind on policy issues.”

But fellow Liberal MPs and National colleagues have called on Mr Abbott to ease up.

Nationals senator John Williams has declared he’s fed up with the public divisions in the Liberal Party, arguing the “frustrating and annoying” infighting is taking away from the government’s achievements.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is no stranger to leadership wars, believes on the big policy issues there is little separating Mr Abbott from his replacement.

“Frankly, if I look at Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull, it just seems to be Tweedledum or Tweedledee,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

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