Turnbull ministers acknowledge cabinet has leaks

Bill Shorten says the Turnbull cabinet is “eating itself”, after Julie Bishop called for a “formal investigation” into cabinet leaks.

Malcolm Turnbull in the cabinet meeting room in Parliament House, Canberra, in August. Picture Gary Ramage

Bill Shorten says the Turnbull cabinet is “eating itself”, after three cabinet ministers acknowledged one of their colleagues had leaked to the media earlier this week and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called for a “formal investigation” into the matter.

Ms Bishop, Treasurer Scott Morrison and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton all acknowledged this morning that the Turnbull cabinet has a problem with leaking.

Ms Bishop told Sky News she was not the leaker, saying she “absolutely rejects the suggestion”, and calling for a “formal investigation”.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull later jumped in and answered on Ms Bishop’s behalf when she was asked at a press conference about her call for an investigation, saying he did not comment on “gossip” of this kind.

“I don’t comment on Cabinet discussions let alone gossip about them. But I can assure you I take the security of cabinet discussions very, very seriously indeed,” he said.

Details of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting were revealed in the Daily Telegraph, which yesterday reported that cabinet had discussed a policy U-turn on a banking royal commission.

While Mr Turnbull and Mr Morrison remain opposed to a royal commission, other ministers are believed to favour a policy reversal.

Mr Morrison said it was “incredibly important these issues are resolved”. “I’m sure the Prime Minister has this well in hand,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Dutton said he had a “gut feeling” about who the leaker was, but would “leave it to that person to out themselves”.

Mr Shorten said Ms Bishop’s comments were astonishing for two reasons.

“First of all, she’s confirmed that the cabinet is leaking on itself, but what is even more astonishing is that Julie Bishop has chosen to call for an investigation into her colleagues,” he said.

“The Turnbull Cabinet is eating itself and Julie Bishop has said she doesn’t have confidence in her cabinet colleagues, so why should Australians have confidence in the Turnbull cabinet?”

Mr Dutton said no good could come from cabinet leaks.

“As I’ve said, for a long time, I’ve served under four Liberal leaders now. I’ve served each of them starting with John Howard loyally and I continue to do that to this day,” Mr Dutton told 2GB.

“I offer my frank advice. I argue with the Prime Minister, he argues with me behind the scenes about different policies or decision that the government might make. I support him 100 per cent because I believe Bill Shorten would be a disaster for this country.”

Asked whether he continued to support the Prime Minister despite losing the argument, Mr Dutton said “of course”.

“We don’t live in a dictatorship,” he said. “Prime Ministers want frank advice, I give frank advice, and we work to get the best possible outcome, and if people believe that somehow their careers are furthered by leaking or by trying to put out something that’s going to damage the government r damage me or damage Malcolm, it says more about them than it does about us.”

Mr Dutton was asked whether he had a “gut feeling” about who the leaker might be.

“I would have a gut feeling as to those sort of matters,” he said, but declined to reveal who he thought it might be.

“I’ll leave it to that person to out themselves. In the end I want the government to succeed,” he said.