Tony Abbott 'determined to do better' after spill motion defeated – politics live

Abbott gets to his feet and hurls this.

I will say this, we are not going to take lessons in unity from a leader of the opposition who backstabbed two prime ministers. We have heard members opposite talking a lot about a vote of 61-39. That is better than Bill Shorten got when he last went before his party room.

The Labor leader goes for a sharp critique of the budget and the government’s values.

What you have got is you have a nation of lifters being led by a government of leaners. That is the problem in this country.

Shorten, thanks the minister “for hedging his bets”.

He continues.

[Abbott] is superglued to that seat and you are going to have to blast him out. I admit our prime minister has a lot of energy. He runs around constantly biting his own tail but at least he knows how to fight for something member for Wentworth.

Teensy bit of support for Turnbull from Pyne, who attempts to cut Shorten off at the pass.

Pyne:

The leader of the opposition appears to have taken the wrong speech from his office today. Perhaps they weren’t prepared for the outcome of this morning’s meeting. He clearly appears to be talking about the wrong member of the chamber and he should – you should draw him back to the motion which is about the prime minister.

Shorten stands up immediately to stop Turnbull’s frolic.

Ostensibly this is a move of no confidence in the prime minister, but the actual target here for Shorten is Malcolm Turnbull – the Liberal leader Labor absolutely does not want.

Shorten:

He won’t fight for the job, the member for Wentworth. He is prepared to injure his prime minister but he leaves his supporters hanging. This is not new in his political career. For two long excruciating decades, we were with the Hamlet of the Liberal party – to be Labor or to be Liberal, that is the question. Yes, in the end John Howard had a better chance of beating Kim Beazley so the ball of ambivalence chose the Liberals.

(This is a message to the people sitting behind Turnbull.)

Turnbull gestured that he was happy to take that question. Madam Speaker was not happy for him to take that question. Malcolm gets a Dorothy Dixer in any case. He can go to town on megabits.

And Labor’s Jason Clare, as it turns out.

Clare, interjecting:

My point of order is relevance. The minister’s only being about 39% relevant and needs to be 100% relevant here.

Turnbull, going to town.

The [shadow] minister, like his leader, they get these zingers, they come in and it is like chewing tobacco and they roll it up against the top of their mouth, they roll it around their cheeks, the pupils dilate, there is a straining expression reminiscent to anyone who has had experience with young children, and then boom! Out it comes, a literary Exocet, aimed at the heart of your victim. How can I take the pressure from the shadow minister? He is almost as deadly as his master.

The treasurer is speaking. Sadly, very few people seem to be listening.

Shorten, to Malcolm Turnbull.

Q: My question is to the minister for communications. Minister, why are you still on the frontbench?

House speaker, Bronwyn Bishop.

That question is not in order. I call the honourable member for Banks.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke.

Under practice, a minister can be questioned on matters for which he or she is responsible or officially connected. If she not responsible for his own role on the frontbench, what is the point of question time at all?

I agree it is time to get on with government.

This is Abbott in response to a question about Queensland MP Teresa Gambaro’s critique in recent days about command and control. Bit wonky, this formulation. If it’s now time to get on with government, what has been happening for the last sixteen months?

The good news is Julie Bishop is still allowed Dorothy Dixers despite being a central protagonist in Tony Abbott’s leadership drama. The bad news is we have to sit through a new Colombo Plan for the eight thousandth time.

Shorten.

Q: Is the prime minister planning to abandon any of his budget measures or is he just planning to abandon his treasurer as he did at the press conference today?

Abbott:

I stand by my treasurer. I stand by my team.