MPs free to talk, if they have leader's approval

DESPITE their ascendancy to poll heaven, the Liberals are getting restless.

In yesterday's Liberal Party meeting, the member for Hume, Alby Schultz, took Tony Abbott to task for allowing one of his staff to "gag" Malcolm Turnbull. He said it was "highly inappropriate" for a staffer to exercise such authority over an elected member of the party.

Attempting to pacify the sometimes fiery member for Hume - no friend of Turnbull, it should be noted - the Opposition Leader pointed out that advice from his office to members not to speak to the media was in the form of "requests" and MPs were always free to make their own decisions.

While Abbott was telling his partyroom one thing, his communications director, Tony O'Leary, was telling press secretaries something completely different.

He told them they should "always seek approval from the leader's office" before their bosses spoke to Sunday morning television, but not to tell journalists that approval was required, and certainly not to tell them "when we say you can't do it".

Nice to see the advice is being followed. Liberal leaking is becoming so widespread that even Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten was backgrounded on the two meetings yesterday. He raised the content of both in question time.

There are tensions brewing to the surface in the Liberal Party. Lucky for Abbott he is dominant in the polls. Were that not the case, Liberal divisions could become a bigger story.