Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has denied falling out with former prime minister Tony Abbott over his troubled leadership and has ruled out ever challenging Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
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Opposition frontbencher Anthony Albanese was quizzed on Monday about his leadership ambitions in the event of Labor losing the election, and Ms Bishop on Tuesday faced similar questions on whether she wanted to lead her party.
During a sometimes difficult interview in the Melbourne studios of 3AW, Ms Bishop restated her regular response, saying she was "happy being the Foreign Minister".
"It's been a privilege to be the Foreign Minister of this country and I want to continue to do that," she said.
Asked if she would guarantee never to run for the leadership, Ms Bishop committed only never to challenge Mr Turnbull for the top job.
"Of course I can't say I would never [run for the leadership] if there was a circumstance, but I certainly don't see one," she told host Neil Mitchell.
"I don't envisage that. I am very, very happy being the Foreign Minister.
"I've been deputy to a number of leaders and I think I play a positive role in that regard and most certainly my colleagues appreciate me being the deputy of the party."
Ms Bishop said she was on good terms with Mr Abbott, her former leader, even though she sided with Mr Turnbull in last September's leadership spill.
"I didn't ever have a falling-out with Tony Abbott," she said.
"I have been touch with Tony; we've been in contact with each other."
Mr Albanese lost a vote for the Labor leadership to Bill Shorten after the 2013 election on the vote of the party room, after winning the popular vote among Labor members.
Asked on Monday if he would put himself forward for the job a second time if the Coalition was re-elected on July 2, he refused to answer directly.
"Labor is not contemplating defeat," Mr Albanese said.
He has denied a rift with Mr Shorten over Sydney's WestConnex project this week.
Ms Bishop refused to say how the Coalition would be faring against Labor if Mr Abbott had remained as prime minister.
"That's hypothetical," she said.
"We've had Malcolm as our leader since September. I think he's doing a magnificent job; he's very well received as I travel around the country.
"People like his positivity, his confidence and they see him as the kind of leader that this country needs at a time of great transition. They appreciate his focus on jobs, on economic growth because that drives our economy; that provides us with the job security that Australians are looking for."
She was unable to explain planned changes to the transition to retirement superannuation scheme, conceding a "gotcha moment" on what has become a sensitive issue with members of the Liberal Party's base.
The scheme allows workers to draw down some super benefits to supplement their salary before retirement. The May budget introduced changes from July 2017, meaning earnings on assets supporting workers' transition will be subject to the existing 15 per cent tax rate.
Asked how the scheme worked, Ms Bishop could not answer and said it was outside her portfolio.
"This is obviously a gotcha moment, you want me to go through … it's not my portfolio and ....
"I've heard [Assistant Treasurer] Kelly O'Dwyer speak on this. This is her portfolio and she said this is not the case," the deputy Liberal leader said.
Ms Bishop is visiting the Melbourne electorate of Goldstein on Tuesday to campaign with former freedom commissioner and Liberal candidate Tim Wilson.
