Rising tensions within the federal government have prompted Tony Abbott to make a public pitch to colleagues to "stick to the plan" rather than make Labor's mistake of cutting down a sitting prime minister.
The comment was a tacit acknowledgement of internal discontent with his performance even as he described talk of a leadership change as "absolute nonsense".
Revealing he might have under-performed as a salesman or "skite" as he called it, he maintained the government's case was sound, branding the Labor alternative as a recipe for economic decline.
But with anger on the backbench spilling into the public realm, Mr Abbott faced hostile questioning during a Melbourne radio interview and received a withering assessment of his performance via talkback radio.
Declaring himself a "Liberal voter through-and-through", a caller identifying himself as "Andrew" used the top-rating program to shirtfront Mr Abbott with the news he was "on the nose with Liberal voters".
"That's a real concern to me because I don't want to see you give the keys to Bill Shorten at the Lodge," he said.
More was to come. "What are you going to do to turn it around because I have got to tell you you are the world's worst salesman, Prime Minister," the caller said.
"It's the way you do things, like the Medicare thing, with the education, you've done so many backflips, people don't know where you are going and business is saying there are roadblocks because there is no direction and no leadership … as a Liberal voter, I don't particularly like you."
Asked by 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell if he was aware of speculation in Liberal circles regarding his future and the possibility of his standing down to make way for a more popular leader, Mr Abbott was scathing.
"If there is one lesson to be learnt from the fate of the former government in Canberra, maybe even the fate of the former government in Victoria, [it] is that you do not change leaders; you rally behind someone and you stick to the plan. We've got a good plan. We inherited a mess, we've made a good start," he said.
The interview occurred in the aftermath of a Fairfax Media report on Thursday revealing several members of the Liberal party-room, including some on the frontbench, are highly critical of the Prime Minister and believe he has just months to turn the government's fortunes around.
Party-room disaffection is widespread, with the government lagging behind Labor in the polls and a scrappy start to 2015 stoking concerns that the problems of last year have not been resolved.
Much of the criticism centres around the operation of the Prime Minister's office, which is under the strong direction of his chief of staff, Peta Credlin.
Liberals are divided but detractors say Ms Credlin has become a political liability, drawing media attention, and acting as a lightning rod for a gathering storm of discontent.
One senior figure said MPs believed her tendency to micro-manage coupled with her constant presence around Mr Abbott had made it almost impossible to have a private conversation with the Prime Minister.
"Either she goes or he does," said one, expressing a sentiment shared by others.
One Liberal MP, who is a strong supporter of Mr Abbott but who asked not to be named, told Fairfax Media the government needed to "come up with a few reasons why we deserve to be re-elected".
"Our biggest problem is 'why are we here and what are we going to do now we are here?'
"The building blocks are there, they've been set up, but we have to grab them."
After returning to their electorate over the Christmas break MPs and senators were now keenly aware that "the perception of the government isn't good".
The MP dismissed suggestions that Mr Abbott could, at some point, make way for a successor, likening the Prime Minister's determination to tough it out to former prime minister John Howard.
A second MP said Coalition MPs had left Canberra tired in December after a difficult political year and "heard bad things" about the government back in their electorate.
That same MP singled out the need for the Prime Minister to be more inclusive and to consult a wider circle of advisers.
"People are not coming to him and talking, they don't feel like they can talk to him."
Despite attempts, Fairfax Media was unable to independently verify the truth of the talkback caller's claims of being a committed Liberal voter.
