Treasurer Joe Hockey has taken a swipe at Malcolm Turnbull and his backers ahead of a Liberal partyroom meeting that will decide the fate of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"The disloyalty of some has been outrageous," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday evening.
"The prime minister has my absolute loyalty as I have his."
Mr Hockey said Mr Turnbull in announcing his leadership challenge made a number of claims that were completely unfounded.
"He has never said to me or to the cabinet that we are heading in the wrong economic direction."
The treasurer defended the government's economic record including the abolition of five Labor taxes and improving the budget bottom line by $50 billion.
It had also negotiated three free-trade agreements and jobs growth was running at 10 times the rate the coalition inherited from Labor, he said.
"We cannot, we must not, become a carbon copy of the Labor Party," Mr Hockey said.
"We must put the national interest ahead of any self-interest."
Share
