Scott Morrison put in a good word in for me, says Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton says he’s grateful to Scott Morrison for recommending to Malcolm Turnbull he remain Immigration Minister.

Peter Dutton arriving for Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House in Canberra.

Peter Dutton has expressed gratitude to Scott Morrison for recommending to Malcolm Turnbull that he be retained as Immigration Minister.

Mr Dutton, who publicly backed Tony Abbott during Monday’s leadership crisis, has offered his resignation to the Prime Minister and is calling on colleagues to unite around Mr Turnbull.

“Scott’s been very generous to me. He said to me he advised Tony Abbott that I was the best person to fill his job when he left border protection to make sure that we can continue the work of stopping the boats,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“And he says he’s advised the same to Malcolm, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m not going to beg for my job. I think I’ve performed well in ­border protection, but ultimately … it’s Malcolm’s decision to make.”

Mr Morrison has been tipped to become treasurer in the Turnbull cabinet, having supported Mr ­Abbott on Monday while not ­lobbying his party allies to do so.

Mr Dutton urged all Coalition MPs and supporters to “come ­together” in common cause of ­defeating Labor at the next ­election.

“We need to make sure we protect Tony’s legacy, we need to make sure we support ­Malcolm, because the tonic for all of this will be success at the next election when we can make sure that we can keep the CFMEU and AWU thugs out of office,” he said.

Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who also supported Mr Abbott, said the Coalition had “bigger fish to fry” than worrying about aggrieved Abbott loyalists and hoped all MPs were “kicking in the same direction.