Treasurer Joe Hockey has blasted cabinet colleagues who have been leaking against him for being "fringe whingers" and accused the media of undermining the government.
And Mr Hockey said he had spoken to Tony Abbott over the weekend and been reassured by the Prime Minister, during a phone call discussing a range of issues, that "there is a lot of gossip around and it is complete rubbish".
The Treasurer said Fairfax Media's report that he could be moved aside in favour of Social Services Minister Scott Morrison if the Canning byelection went badly for the Liberal Party was simply "gossip parading as journalism".
But in an extraordinary statement that demonstrated the depth of concern in Coalition ranks about leaks and backbiting in cabinet, respected NSW Senator Arthur Sindodinos demanded ministers "should be working hard to win the Canning byelection rather than backgrounding against a colleague to scapegoat a potential loss".
"Holding out the prospect of a reshuffle and even a double dissolution election smacks of defeatism and a lack of focus on the substantive issues of governing," Senator Sinodinos said.
"The Prime Minister should sack any minister or adviser who is engaged in such deliberate leaking and destabilisation. We should be working to achieve a swing to us in this byelection."
Mr Abbott declared "full confidence" in his Treasurer, while cabinet ministers including Mr Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop variously dismissed the report as speculation and gossip.
Mr Hockey said told radio station 2GB he could not account for the actions of cabinet colleagues who were backgrounding against him.
In comments that could anger colleagues who believe he has underperformed in the job, Mr Hockey noted "you are always going to have some fringe whingers and the fact is you just have to push on and focus on what matters. What matters is creating jobs in the economy, helping to get prosperity right across the community".
Mr Hockey suggested it was "horrible legacy of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, that no journo wants to miss a story about any disruption to government and they are attempting, combined with a few fringe dwellers, to undermine our focus on what is important for every day Australians, which is jobs and growth".
His call for unity and focus within the Coalition came just hours after Mr Abbott's declaration of "full confidence" in his under-fire Treasurer and just two weeks after the Prime Minister told the Liberal party room he had read the riot act - again - to leaking cabinet ministers.
Mr Abbott said talk of a switch to Mr Morrison was "a matter of almost no account whatsoever" and said the Treasurer was doing an excellent job and enjoyed his full confidence.
"Not a single person has raised this issue with me; it's a matter of so little moment that not a single person has raised it with me."
In a sign of the gallows humour taking hold in the Coalition, despondent Liberals joked to Fairfax Media, "that was close — we almost stayed on message today" and "another week going well; didn't even make it to 9am Monday without another self-inflicted wound".
The Liberal Party holds the West Australian seat of Canning with a margin of 11.8 per cent, but recent polling in the seat shows it is now on a knife edge, with swings to Labor of as much as 10 per cent forecast.
One cabinet minister said that a swing of more than six per cent - which would still see the Liberal Party's candidate Andrew Hastie win the seat - would be bad news for Mr Abbott and more than 10 per cent would be "dire".
Both Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey dismissed Senator Sinodinos' call for leaking colleagues to be sacked.
Mr Hockey said that "every country in the world has leaks, every country in the world has gossip".
