MALCOLM TURNBULL'S authority over his party is slipping with a group of backbenchers prepared to defy party policy and cross the floor today, making it the second such incident this week.
The revolt over immigration policy emerged yesterday as the Opposition Leader fought off Government demands that he resign over the fake email which he used to accuse the Prime Minister of lying to Parliament.
Godwin Grech, the official at the centre of the OzCar affair, is now suspected of being a "Treasury mole" who has been involved in leaking material to the Opposition over the past 18 months that has been used to embarrass the Government.
The Australian Federal Police, already investigating Mr Grech over the fake email, is understood to have widened that probe into other leaks concerning the ill-fated FuelWatch scheme and behind-the-scenes concerns over the Government's bank deposit guarantee.
Mr Turnbull refused to comment on the claims, saying he did not reveal his sources.
As he dusted himself off yesterday and sought to renew the attack on the Government over the OzCar affair, Mr Turnbull faced a mini-revolt in the party room over a shadow cabinet decision to oppose a bill that would free asylum seekers from having to pay for the cost of their detention.
The system was introduced by the previous Labor government in 1992 and the Rudd Government plans to abolish it.
The Coalition will oppose the bill, but yesterday about 15 moderate MPs and senators voiced their disapproval in the party room. At least four - Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent, Judi Moylan and Danna Vale - reserved their right to cross the floor today.
On Monday, the renegade backbenchers Alby Schultz and Wilson Tuckey, along with two Nationals, Paul Neville and Darren Chester, crossed the floor to protest against the Coalition voting with the Government to increase the tax on alcopops.
The Nationals Senate leader, Barnaby Joyce, said he would also cross the floor over alcopops.
The Coalition and independents in the Senate yesterday also voted to suspend debate on the emissions trading scheme until August, thus avoiding having to make a decision this week and limiting the Government's options for an early election.
"They have such a strength of leadership that they have now resolved to vote not to vote," Kevin Rudd taunted in Parliament. "It goes to the absolute shambles that the Opposition now finds itself in. There is an absence of leadership on something as basic as alcopops."
The fake email left some of Mr Turnbull's detractors questioning his judgment and that of his inner circle. A couple of MPs confided they wished Peter Costello would reconsider his retirement but the former treasurer, in Israel, has no intention of doing so.
"We've got no other choice," said one MP.
Yesterday the Opposition spokesman on superannuation, Chris Pearce, announced he would retire at the next election. Mr Pearce, who holds the Melbourne seat of Aston, said he would move to the backbench for the rest of the term.
Senior Liberals said this would enable Mr Turnbull to reshuffle his front bench, which would be an opportunity for him to reassert his authority and attend to personal grievances.
A defiant Mr Turnbull told the party room the email setback would not deter the Opposition from going after the Government. It continued to hound the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, over the attention given to an application for finance by the Queensland dealer John Grant, the same dealer who gave Mr Rudd a free ute.
Mr Turnbull said the Coalition would not win the next election by being timid. "We must not be shy or reserved. Our attacks are based on information; it's our job as Opposition to continue the attack," he said.
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