8 People Warning That It ~Might~ Be On Again

It ~might~ be on.

With the 45th parliament days away from kicking off its first sitting week, critics of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership are murmuring in the Canberra corridors.

1. Disgruntled Liberal backbencher Eric Abetz

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The Tasmanian Senator has warned Malcolm Turnbull he could face revolt from within his own ranks if he ignores the factions, including his own gang of Tony Abbott loyalists. He's annoyed that he, Abbott and Kevin Andrews were passed over for ministerial positions in the new government.

"I think it was a strategic error by the prime minister not to restore one of us to the cabinet to run a good ship. But having said that, Tony Abbott, Kevin Andrews and myself never got into politics to see a Labor government installed," he said.

"So we will do whatever we possibly can, albeit from the backbench, to ensure that good Liberal party principles are upheld ... and to ensure that Labor does not win the next election."

2. Independent MP Bob Katter

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Every seat counts when you have a one-seat majority in the lower house. The Queensland MP isn't convinced Malcolm Turnbull's leadership can withstand the pressure. We've already seen squabbles over the negotiations with Labor over voting pairs.

"If you think you can govern Australia with 76 members of parliament, I wish you well. N -one can go to the bathroom. Don't have your grandmother die, because you won't be able to go to the funeral," Katter said.

Two MPs have already threatened to cross the floor: George Christensen on super changes and John Williams on a banking royal commission.

3. Former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello

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The former Howard minister has cast doubt on the PM's policy negotiation skills, warning each decision he makes will be scrutinised by the backbench. For example: the changes to superannuation which would put a $25,000 cap on pre-tax contributions.

"I think there are genuine concerns in the policy as it was presented, and I think the government has acknowledged that it will have to look at it, and it will. And, of course, it will have to legislate it," he said.

"The biggest danger here is you'll get a member of the Liberal party or the LNP or National party ... will threaten to go independent. It's a very alluring prospect 'I'll threaten to go independent, I'll get a whole lot of lolly for my electorate'."

4. Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson

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Nearly a year on from taking the Liberal leadership, Turnbull has proven himself a dud and a failed leader who's time will soon be up Richardson argues in his column for The Australian.

"The repetition of useless mantras such as 'jobs and growth' when those doing the chanting have no discernible plan on how to deliver them compounds the failure. Mediocrity and the melancholy that unfailingly follows seem to have conquered all before them," he writes.

"While the polls clearly show the average punter is not happy, this is nothing compared with the exasperation of the top end of town. It is there the disappointment runs deepest and where the ­absence of hope or confidence is so evident. We do not want governments learning crisis management on the job. We want fewer crises and more inspiration. Under our leadership, hope remains the subject of a forlorn search."

5. Columnist Andrew Clark

Clark argues in the Australian Financial Review that Tony Abbott's recent comments that he was wrong to block Labor's "Malaysia Solution" should be interpreted as a Liberal party leadership proxy war that has been "simmering just below the surface in the wake of Turnbull blasting Abbott out of the prime ministership on September 14 last year".

"One senior Liberal Party figure, who enjoys a classic insider's perspective on the proxy war, likens the Abbott forces to a duck crossing a pond. On the surface it looks like the duck is calmly making the journey, but under the water it is furiously thrashing around with its feet," he wrote.

"Like so many in the Liberal party, this figure is convinced that Tony Abbott is determined to reclaim the Liberal party leadership position from Turnbull, just as he did in another party room boilover on December 1, 2009."

6. Former Labor premier Kristina Keneally

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Since the election, the PM has gone missing, according to Keneally. She says he's been MIA on national policy discussions around a banking royal commission, asylum seeker abuse, plebiscite on same-sex marriage and the repeal of section18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

"Has Turnbull gone into hiding? Is he sulking? Depressed? Is he working hard behind closed doors on a new economic narrative?"

She points to a speech made by former PM Tony Abbott at the Samuel Griffith Society as a sign that Abbott is self-reflecting, learning from his mistakes, considering policy and making a visual sign that he's preparing to return as leader.

"For those who think it’s inconceivable that Abbott could become prime minister again, may I remind you of Kevin Rudd? For those who say, yes, but Rudd was always popular with voters, and Abbott never was, I say, yes, but that’s not the point. It isn’t about whether Abbott was popular with voters back then, or is popular with them now: it is about whether Malcolm Turnbull can ever be popular again – with voters, or with his own colleagues."

7. Former chairman of the ABC Maurice Newman

The former chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange and current chair of the Business Advisory Council thinks Malcolm Turnbull's leadership is too "left-leaning".

He said the Liberal party was becoming increasingly "Labor-like" under Turnbull, comparing him to Kevin Rudd.

"He seems to be erratic, egocentric and divisive. His supersized ministry suggests people-management issues," he wrote in The Australian.

"The treachery and misjudgment behind the leadership coup, compounded by the disastrous election outcome, have left the party wounded, distrustful and culturally divided. Its direction remains confused and ad hoc. Its leader’s personality and life experience ill equip him for the massive task at hand. Something will have to give."

8. Veteran political journalist Laurie Oakes

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"The Coalition’s narrow margin would matter less if Turnbull had a stable party room, but he has a disaffected Right wing. Already there are threats of floor-crossing," Oakes wrote in the Herald Sun.

"Fear of One Nation’s appeal to conservative voters will increase pressure on Turnbull from within the Liberal Party to move to the Right."

Oakes predicts the delayed plebiscite on same-sex marriage could be an "exploding cigar" issue for the prime minister's leadership.

"Deep divisions in the Coalition mean they are likely to go through hell just devising the question."