Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged Scott Morrison to call an early election, while attacking the potential re-endorsement of conservative Liberal MP Craig Kelly as the "worst and weak" response.
Mr Turnbull says a snap poll soon after the summer break would be in the “best interests” of the party.
“It would be manifestly in the best interests and prospects of the government to go to the polls as soon as possible after the summer break,” he told ABC Radio on Monday morning.
The former prime minister defended his intervention in an internal Liberal preselection process that could threaten the position of Mr Kelly.
The former prime minister said a preselection vote should go ahead, and Mr Kelly should not be protected for allegedly threatening to move to the crossbench if his position is not guaranteed.
“To give in to a threat to quote ‘bring down the government’ who claims to be quote ‘a real liberal’, unquote, is extraordinary,” Mr Turnbull said.
"If indeed he has made that threat, it is not one that should result in a capitulation. Indeed it would be the worst and weakest response to such a threat," Mr Turnbull said.
Early election
Mr Turnbull revealed his plan as leader was to call an election on March 2 – significantly earlier than the May election now signaled by the Morrison government.
Trade minister Simon Birmingham, asked for a response, would only say the election would come in the “early half” of next year.
Compounding the division issues in the party is the defection of former federal Liberal MP Julia Banks and resignation of Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has instead urged his colleagues not to be spooked by the humiliating defeat in Victoria.
If the disastrous result is replicated at the federal election in May, the coalition could lose six Victorian seats.
Former state opposition leader Matthew Guy warned the Liberal Party is at risk of annihilation at the federal poll.
He said the Liberal brand had been made "toxic" by the leadership mess in Canberra, and compounded by state problems, including a lack of gender and ethnic diversity.
However, Mr Morrison has argued the Liberals lost the Victorian election because they failed to make a case for change.
"(Labor Premier) Dan Andrews successfully convinced Victorians that they shouldn't make a change," Mr Morrison told the Herald Sun.
"It's a compliment to Dan Andrews. It's not our job to be spooked."
Mr Morrison still believes he can beat Labor leader Bill Shorten.
"Of course I can," he said.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has fired off a warning to any Labor MPs pencilling in a federal election win.
Senator Cormann says former Labor leader Kim Beazley was "way more electable" in 2001 than Mr Shorten, but he ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
"All of those Labor people, from Bill Shorten down, who are getting really cocky would do well to have another look at what happened in 2001," he told Sky News.
Anxious NSW Liberals fear their federal colleagues could cost them the state election next March.
"The feds are poisoning us," one senior state Liberal told the Sydney Morning Herald.
