Peter Dutton pledges his loyalty to Malcolm Turnbull ahead of Newspoll

Peter Dutton says any cabinet minister who doesn’t share his loyalty to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should resign.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says any cabinet minister who doesn’t share his loyalty to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should resign.

Asked whether he was loyal to Mr Turnbull days ahead of the prime minister’s likely 30th Newspoll loss on Monday, Mr Dutton said he wouldn’t be serving as a minister if he wasn’t.

Mr Turnbull used the impending loss of a 30th Newspoll as justification to challenge Tony Abbott for the prime ministership in 2015.

“I only accepted the offer to serve in the Prime Minister’s cabinet because I could give my loyalty to the leader, exactly the same formula I applied when Tony Abbott offered a position within his cabinet,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.

“I believe very strongly that if you don’t have that loyalty, then you resign from the cabinet.”

Liberal backbencher Eric Abetz said Mr Turnbull also had his loyalty.

“Yes, whenever I’ve been asked about the leadership I support the elected leader of the party,” the conservative Tasmanian senator and Tony Abbott ally told Sky News.

“But I’ve never engaged in the cult of personality, be it when Malcolm Fraser was leader when I first joined the Liberal Party, I joined the Liberal Party because of its virtues, values and principles, not because of who might be the leader from time to time.

“The virtues and values that the Liberal Party is founded on, is a lot greater than any of its leaders, even Robert Menzies if I might say, so that is what motivates me in public life and in the Liberal Party.

“Having said that I am not aware of any challenge to Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, and I would invite yourself and all your colleagues to discuss this issue on the coal-fired power station on the basis of the merits of the policy proposal, not through some artificial prism of leadership.”

One of Australia’s most marginal seat-holders, Queensland Liberal MP Luke Howarth, has cautioned colleagues against seizing on Mr Turnbull’s self-declared “KPI’’ of 30-straight Newspolls trailing Labor.

He has warned there is “no time’’ or need to change leaders before the next election.

The two-term MP, who saved the Turnbull government in 2016 by bucking a general swing to Labor and holding on to his north Brisbane seat of Petrie — then Australia’s most vulnerable on a margin of 0.6 per cent — said it was important to maintain political stability, regardless of the polls.

Mr Howarth is a right-wing conservative and among at least 20 Coalition MPs facing the loss of their seats on polling that puts Labor ahead of the Coalition on a two-party preferred vote of 53-47.

But Mr Howarth, who has not revealed who he supported in the vote that elevated Mr Turnbull to the prime ministership, yesterday said he wouldn’t back another leadership challenge.

“I think it is important for ­stability and we can’t keep changing leaders; we are not a disposable society,’’ he said after Mr Turnbull announced a $150 million upgrade to the Bruce Highway in his electorate.

“Malcolm and I might have policy issues that we differ on, but ultimately he is a smart man and he’s done what he said he would do, whether it’s jobs and growth, whether it’s a plebiscite on marriage equality or whatever.

“He has said exactly what he is going to do. It’s one of his strengths and when you look at previous leaders, they haven’t always said what they are going to do.’’