Labor MP Tony Burke has warned the Liberal Party against the unfolding "Shakespearean tragedy" of leadership turmoil that would only continue by reinstalling Tony Abbott as leader, as a Liberal minister said "nefarious" parties should stop leaking to the press.
On the ABC's Q&A; on Monday night, Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke answered questions on the government's contentious changes to 457 visas and crackdown on Australian citizenship before he addressed widely-reported leadership tensions in his party.
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Q&A;: Burke says changing leader creates 'Shakespearean tragedy'
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke compares leadership tensions in the Liberal party to when Labor had the same issues while in government.
An audience member asked: "Heading towards the next federal election, is the turmoil between Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott going to cost you the election? How do you see this matter being resolved?"
Mr Hawke said he did not think there is "a big group of people involved" in what host Tony Jones described as "strategic leaks against Abbott" and "strategic statements by Abbott".
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"When I speak to Peter Dutton, as I do daily ... we don't talk about this," Mr Hawke said. "When the Prime Minister speaks to me about the work of government, we don't speak about this.
"It would be remiss of us to get in the Labor situation where we got completely and utterly distracted by it. You won't see us doing that. I'll give you that guarantee."
Mr Hawke said there was, "of course", friction between a leader and a former leader, and conceded someone was leaking information such as polling data to the press.
"Whoever does that leaking has a nefarious motive and they shouldn't be doing it," he said.
Mr Hawke deferred to fellow panellist Mr Burke, with the quip: "Let's go to the expert."
Mr Burke was a vocal supporter of Julia Gillard when she was deputy Labor leader, encouraging her to successfully challenge Kevin Rudd in a leadership spill.
Later, as Mr Rudd gained momentum to take back the leadership, Mr Burke maintained Ms Gillard would not be rolled, and was one of a handful of MPs to publicly undermine Mr Rudd.
"I used to give answers like Alex just gave," Mr Burke said, describing in-fighting as "awful" even when you're part of it.
"People say your worst day in government is better than your best day in opposition, it's not true. Your worst days are when your own side's fighting. Those are your worst days. It's awful.
"One thing I learnt, when you change a first-term prime minister, you unleash an entire Shakespearean tragedy. I watched it unfold, and we're watching it unfold again."
Mr Hawke branded leadership speculation a "media circus" and "fake news", while another panellist, feminist writer and academic Germaine Greer questioned if anyone was interested in the "sniping".
Senator Derryn Hinch had a much more blunt assessment: "I think this whole Abbott-Turnbull stuff is as boring as batshit."