Scott Morrison admits Wentworth voters were angry about some issues Malcolm Turnbull identified as key to the by-election loss, but the prime minister doesn't agree with all of his predecessor's assessments of why the coalition lost the seat.
Mr Turnbull said a "messy week" just before the Wentworth by-election killed off the coalition's majority, not his lack of campaigning on the ground.
The coalition had a number of scandals in that final week, including senators accidentally voting for a One Nation "it's okay to be white" motion and a plan to move the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
"People were very angry about those events, particularly in the seat of Wentworth and I know that, I grew up in the seat of Wentworth," Mr Morrison told a Lifeline event in Sydney on Friday.
"(But) I don't necessarily agree with all those assessments. There are a range of issues that play into any by-election.
"But the point of by-elections is they're done and I don't want to get very focused on public post-assessments."
Mr Turnbull said on Thursday the Liberals who brought him down in August might have been worried he would win the next federal election.
He named Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, Health Minister Greg Hunt, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, and former prime minister Tony Abbott as the leaders of the "insurgency" that toppled him.
Defence Minister Chrisopher Pyne said on Friday those colleagues must be "responsible for their actions" during the overthrow.
Senator Cormann said he did not engineer the coup but he was clear about why he shifted support away from Mr Turnbull when he did.
That step came after a first leadership ballot showed Mr Turnbull's leadership was "irretrievable", he said.
"It was in the interest of the country, the government and the Liberal Party for the issue of the leadership of the Liberal Party to be resolved with more certainty before we left that week," the senator told Sky News on Friday.
"I certainly believe that I was publicly accountable for my actions in what was a very difficult week."
Both ministers have stressed they are now focused on the future, with Mr Pyne saying the coalition and Mr Turnbull are "getting on with it".
Mr Turnbull also revealed on Thursday he takes Mr Morrison at his word when he says he wasn't involved in the coup.
