Come off it. Maybe the Liberal Party only has one opinion and only allows one opinion to be voiced internally but any reasonable person would expect a real political party to contain strongly held and advocated views and have a process by which such views can be subjected to a process of determination, which you typify as 'lobbying'. I didn't know lobbying was a sin, evidently you think it is, been in politics long?

You use the first third of your article to try to make a normal internal party debate and democratic decision making process look like a problem by using all kinds of alarmist terms and prejudicial framing. Using a thesaurus to find scary synonyms doesn't make your position any more credible.

You use the rest of your article to try to build a looming crisis on the basis of the non-existent authority problem you imagined up for your own benefit.

Surely you've got better things to be doing with your time than this kind of transparent verbal manipulation? Oh, sorry, politician...proceed....

Last time I remember the LNP showing disagreement in the ranks it was met with Mr Abbott spinning a positive as something like '...we in the Liberal Party are a broad Church and we encourage discussion on all sorts of issues and we won't always agree'.

It is not a collapse in authority for a PM to be persuaded or influenced to change her decision. This is called a democracy. It is only in dictatorships where the supreme leader has all power. North Korea anyone?

Hasn't the LNP worked it out yet. That people are sick of the maliciousness and trite that comes out from the two major parties. We need to sweep the lot out now and bring in some new candidates who will rise above the petty politicking and point scoring and actually hold whichever government is in power to account on policies.

Agree with Pelican. The only fall in authority in this case is that of the Canberra press gallery who consistently has misread the public's total disinterest in this case or indeed, any matter which does not directly pertain to policy and governing the nation.

As much as the deputy opposition leader may try, the smear campaign isn't working like it didn't work for the ALP, although some mud stuck to Abbott.

It's no wonder circulation for mainstream papers is crashing (Internet aside). Its because political reporters lack news sense. They are tribal pack hunters who are writing much which few read and even fewer care about.

I agree with the previous comments and would add that after the debacle of the case against the speaker being thrown out of court, maybe the coalition should actually do some serious thinking about alternative policies and not spend so much time craving for power and trying to blacken the government.
The job of an opposition is to offer alternatives and not to continuously whine about losing the last election and not having a go at the trough.
Julie, why do you keep writing to this forum with your anti government articles?
Would it not be better to be looking at ways to improve the running of the country/

Julie perhaps you should dis-endorse the member for Murray for going against your position om the Murray Darling plan Imagine the treachery of going against your leaders position on that matter.

Agree with Cheryl, Robert and Pelican!
They say a drowning man will clutch at a straw? This seems to be the political equivalent of that? Enough already!
Time to inflate the Mae west, and or, roll out some fully costed and differentiation policies, Julie!
But only, if your side of politics has anything actually in the fully costed policy locker, except more of the same old same old, and patently divisive, puerile muckraking?
The stuff your side of the isle dredged up on Slipper has back fired in a very big way, leaving lots of very smelly egg, on some very red faces?
[So, he is exceptionally candid in "allegedly" totally private telephone conversations, who amongst us isn't?]
Didn't you folks learn anything from the patently self-harming Gordon Gretch affair, and its, reportedly, manufactured evidence?
And when will your side of the isle, realise the lower house is not a kangaroo court, let alone judge, jury and executioner?
I could suggest that all politicians go back home and search for and find, your manifestly missing good manners, then put them back in?
[After all, common courtesy and civility costs nothing!]
It would make so much difference to a vastly improved question time?
The only problem is, I think most pollies could probably search the rest of their lives; and, never ever find them?
Rhrosty.