Christopher Pyne says ‘we aren’t changing leader again’ amid speculation Julie Bishop could make tilt for top job

Christopher Pyne quashes speculation that former deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop could make another tilt for the top job.

Former Australian foreign minister and deputy leader of the Liberal Party Julie Bishop will recontest her West Australian seat of Curtin.

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne, a senior moderate Liberal MP, has sounded the warning “we are not changing the leader again” amid speculation Julie Bishop could make another tilt for the party’s top job.

The former deputy Liberal leader confirmed this week her intention was to recontest her West Australian seat of Curtin at next year’s election and has not ruled out running for the leadership again in the future.

Asked on Nine’s Today why the Liberal Party didn’t just “let Julie Bishop run the show” given her popularity, Mr Pyne responded: “We have a leader, it’s Scott Morrison. We are not changing the leader again.”

When Mr Pyne was asked if he was sure of his answer, he said: “Mmhmm, I am.”

“We have a leader it’s Scott Morrison and we’re not changing the leader again,” says @cpyne. Do you believe him? #9Today pic.twitter.com/JQSHZ9nFWa

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) November 29, 2018

The Australian Institute, a left wing think tank, found more Australians still recognised Ms Bishop than the Prime Minister, with 82 per cent of respondents saying they had heard of her versus 75 per cent for Mr Morrison.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said the situation for the government was “so bad” it had decided to sit “for a grand total of 10 days in eight months”.

The parliamentary sitting calendar for 2019 has two weeks of sittings in February, the budget on April 2 and then three sitting days on budget week.

An election, which is due by May 18, will have to be called by April 15, making the remaining scheduled sitting weeks in April, May and June effectively redundant.

Parliament is not due to sit again until August 12.

“The government’s getting increasingly hysterical as they get more and more desperate. What we saw this week was they lost the member for Wentworth (Malcolm Turnbull, who was replaced by independent Kerryn Phelps) as the government member on Monday. They lost the member for Chisholm (Julia Banks) as the government member on Tuesday,” Mr Albanese said.

Julia Banks, Rebekha Sharkie talk to Christopher Pyne and Cathy McGowan and Kerryn Phelps in Question Time yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith

“They’re going to lose the member for Hughes, Craig Kelly is going to go to the crossbenches as well. This is a government that has decided it’s so bad, they’re not going to allow parliament to sit next year.

“One of the things we woke up to this week isn’t that they are worried about parliament sitting because of what we do, they are worried about parliament sitting because their party room has to meet at the same time. Every time their party room meets, it is chaos and dysfunction.”

Mr Pyne said the Coalition had “been in much worse positions than this”, noting that in 2001 the Howard government was behind 58-42 in the polls but eight months later won the election.

“Let’s not forget next April we are going to release a surplus budget, the first surplus budget since the Howard-Costello era,” he said.

“We have got six months to go before the election. Anybody who decides the election is over, I know Labor has, Labor is absolutely over confident … (but) it’s a lot to go between now and next election.”

Ms Bishop, the country’s first female foreign minister, was eliminated in the first round of the August Liberal Party leadership contest after receiving just 11 votes.