Decision to move spill meeting 'a captain's call': Turnbull

Potential Liberal leadership contender Malcolm Turnbull says Prime Minister Tony Abbott's decision to move the cabinet meeting forward to consider the spill motion is a 'captain's call'.

The comment comes just hours after he reiterated he would support the Prime Minister as a member of the cabinet.

"I'm in the cabinet, of course I support the prime minister, everyone supports the prime minister," he told reporters on Sunday as he prepared to take a walk with his wife Lucy.

"You don't have to keep on saying that all the time."

Tony Abbott announced his decision to move the meeting for the party to consider the spill motion forward to Monday in a statement this morning.

"This morning, I have asked the Chief Government Whip to call a special Party Room meeting for 9.00am on Monday 9 February to consider the spill motion," he said.

Mr Abbott said: "The last thing Australia needs is instability and uncertainty.

"I have decided the best thing to do is deal with the spill motion as soon as possible."

Mr Abbott said after speaking to his colleagues he had decided to bring forward the meeting on the spill motion so they could "put it behind us".

He did not take questions.

Mr Turnbull’s comments come amid News Corp reports of a plan to make him treasurer in a bid to avert a leadership spill altogether.

That would mean Mr Abbott would have to remove close friend Joe Hockey from the role, who has been under siege for several months, with some colleagues believing he has been unable to sell the Budget.

Mr Abbott yesterday cleared the way for his MPs to cast judgment in a secret ballot.

The under-siege Prime Minister spoke of loyalty.

"I know my frontbenchers. I trust my frontbenchers," Mr Abbott said in Townsville on Saturday.

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And he dispatched those frontbenchers to talk him up.

"[Abbott's] a good man. He's a genuinely good human being," Treasurer Joe Hockey said.

The Prime Minister even likened the leadership fights to TV's medieval power drama.

"This game of thrones circus which the Labor Party gave us," Abbott said.

Yesterday, Mr Turnbull was unsighted as he stayed inside his Eastern Sydney home.

"Malcolm's not going to come out and speak to you so can I suggest you go and get on with the rest of your Saturday's, and have a lovely weekend. Thank you," Lucy Turnbull told reporters.

Mr Turnbull has not even declared he is a candidate, the papers have done it for him, and MPs committed to a change of leader on Tuesday say he will run, though the message to Malcolm from the Abbott camp seems to be, 'don't you dare.'

"Malcolm Turnbull said he's not about to challenge Tony Abbott," Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

And the other fancied contender for Prime Minister?

Tony Abbott took Julie Bishop to Townsville with him.

She is holding back on any glowing endorsements, but is also talking loyalty.

"I support the Prime Minister. I support the leader," Ms Bishop said.

"That is the role of the deputy and I've proven since 2007 that's the role I will play."

So Tuesday's Liberal Party Room spill here still lacks a declared challenger, like the farce two years ago where a Labor elder called on the vote, but the contender refused to run.

"I believe in honouring my word," Kevin said, but the then prime minister went on to win without a contest.

Abbott repeated; "We are not Labor. We are not Labor".

In fact, the 'federal-leadership-killing-fields' have trapped both major parties over the last eleven years.

John Howard one exception; the people ended his rule.

Two leaders survived coup attempts along the way, but they and the rest eventually perished as their party rooms turned on them, except for Kevin Rudd's second life as a leader.

That ended at the last election.

So recent history for Tony Abbott is grim. In his favour, the roughly one third of his party room now thought to be pitted against him still feel the need to stay silent, though one of those told 7News some are waiting to seize momentum by speaking out closer to the vote.