Tony Abbott says cabinet reshuffle likely, but praises Hockey for 'resilience'

Tony Abbott has signalled that he plans to reshuffle his frontbench before the next election but has defended Joe Hockey as a treasurer of “remarkable resilience” performing “the toughest job in the country”.

The prime minister used interviews marking the end of the final parliamentary sitting of the year to argue the government was “getting the fundamentals right”.

He indicated he was willing to consider further changes to his paid parental leave scheme in an attempt to clear the Senate hurdle, but said the government should not dramatically change course and “run around like headless chooks”.

Friday marked the end of a tumultuous parliamentary fortnight for the government, including mixed messages over the future of the proposed GP co-payment. The Senate blocked another central element of the budget – university fee deregulation – but the immigration minister, Scott Morrison, secured adequate crossbench support for his temporary protection visa bill.

Hockey has come under pressure over his handling of the budget, with numerous contentious measures appearing unlikely to pass the Senate amid evidence that the opposition’s criticism on the grounds of “unfairness” has resonated with voters.

The defence minister, David Johnston, also faced calls from Labor to resign after comments critical of the government owned shipbuilder, leaks about the minister’s expense claims, and staff departures.

The prospects of the stood-aside assistant treasurer, Arthur Sinodinos, returning to his position depend on the findings of an inquiry by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

In an interview with the ABC, Abbott said he was likely to reshuffle his frontbench team, which had remained largely unchanged over the past five years.

“Oh, look, at some stage between now and the next election, quite probably,” he said on Thursday evening, before praising prominent cabinet members.

Abbott said Morrison had stopped asylum-seeker boats even though “everyone thought that couldn’t be done”, Julie Bishop had “had a stellar year” as foreign affairs minister, and Mathias Cormann had been “an outstanding finance minister”.

The prime minister said Hockey was “going to be one of the great treasurers because he’s someone who bounces back and that’s what he’s doing now”.

In an interview with 3AW on Friday, Abbott was asked whether Hockey was safe in his position of treasurer.

“Of course,” he said.

“Joe has the toughest job in the country. He is a man of remarkable resilience, focus, grit, and I can’t think of any one of my colleagues who would be more single-minded when it comes to delivering for the Australian people.”

News Corp’s Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that senior Coalition MPs were losing faith in Hockey’s capacity to promote the government’s economic message, with some questioning whether Malcolm Turnbull could do a better job.

Hockey, who is preparing to reduce revenue forecasts when he releases the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (Myefo) in the next fortnight, said he sometimes had to have difficult conversations with colleagues about their budgets.

“I understand some of their anxieties but we’ve got to do what’s right for the Australian people,” Hockey said.

Asked whether he was disappointed that colleagues had decided to air their grievances in the media, Hockey said: “I think towards the end of the year it gets a little ratty for some.”

He told the Seven Network: “I think everyone has got to help to sell the message.”

The education minister, Christopher Pyne, said Hockey was “one of the hardest working, smartest and genuinely decent people in politics” and deserved support. Cormann said Hockey was “working tirelessly and effectively to build a stronger economy and repair the budget”.

Morrison drew comparisons between the task he faced in the immigration portfolio and the one Hockey faced in treasury.

“We’ve both been left with an ugly, filthy mess from the Labor party,” Morrison said. “They have opposed us every day, tooth and nail, as we’ve tried to restore the borders and restore the budget. With Joe Hockey, I will be brothers in arms in seeking to support him to fix the big challenges he has as I know he has been to me. This is a team game, politics, and you win together.”

Morrison played down suggestions he might wish to move to another portfolio such as defence. “I’ve always focused on getting the job done that I have and that’s what I’m doing,” he said.

Abbott defended Johnston’s performance as defence minister after he was widely criticised for saying he would not trust the government’s shipbuilder, ASC, to build a canoe.

“Let’s not forget the mess that he inherited,” the prime minister told 3AW.

“You shouldn’t confuse the occasional misspeak with failure to deliver on substantial policy … He’s doing a good job and he deserves my confidence, which he absolutely has, and he should have the confidence of the Australian people.”

Abbott, who ended the parliamentary year lagging in the polls, said he would seek to turn the situation around by focusing on delivering for the people.

“What we don’t do is run around like headless chooks and suddenly change the plan which is the only plan that can give us the kind of better future with stronger economic growth and more jobs that the people expect,” he said.

Abbott said “the worst thing for Australia” would be to have another unstable, short term government. “I will outlast the critics – that’s my absolute determination,” he said.

The prime minister said he still wanted to legislate “a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme” but signalled he was prepared for further compromises on the design, which the opposition has strongly criticised and is also unpopular among Coalition MPs.

“Obviously when something is likely to face a difficult passage through the parliament you look at what might be possible and I’ve extended the olive branch to the crossbench, to the Greens and even to the Labor party on this and said, ‘we need a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme … you tell us what you would like to see and let’s talk about it’.”