Tony Abbott broke with tradition and skipped an annual black tie dinner held for government senators when he attended a party fund-raiser in Melbourne on Monday night.
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The trip has caused a stir after the Prime Minister admitted to colleagues he made an early morning visit to a cancer research centre on Tuesday so he could justify the interstate visit under entitlements.
The visit ran over time and caused Mr Abbott to arrive one hour late to a regular meeting of Coalition MPs.
He was taken to task by government senator Ian Macdonald, who was swiftly rebuked by a colleague. But the confrontation elicited Mr Abbott's frank confession about scheduling an official visit the morning after his fund-raiser so he could bill taxpayers for the travel.
Almost every government senator attended the dinner at the Boathouse restaurant in Canberra. The leader is always invited and usually attends, Fairfax has been told.
This year Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop and Nationals Leader Warren Truss were the Coalition star attractions.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said Mr Abbott "receives a lot of requests to attend functions. Unfortunately, he can't accommodate them all".
The spokeswoman said "none of the dates proposed for the Coalition senators' dinner could be accommodated".
The dinner is always scheduled for the first Monday night of the first sitting week after the winter break.
One source said Mr Abbott's absence from the dinner was partly behind Senator Macdonald's decision to publicly question the Prime Minister's priorities.
They expressed surprise that the Prime Minister would choose to attend a fund-raiser instead of spending time with senators, some of whom have openly opposed the leadership on budget measures, the Racial Discrimination Act and the planned parental leave scheme.
Senator Macdonald did not respond to calls but released a statement in which he took a veiled swipe at his colleagues for leaking details of the party room meeting. He said the reason for the long-standing convention that the party room is private is "obvious". "It allows members and senators to speak frankly in what are often robust and beneficial exchanges with ministers and the leadership."
Senator Macdonald has been a regular critic of his own side since being demoted from the frontbench after the 2013 election. Junior minister Jamie Briggs said people were getting tired with "certain individuals pursuing personal gripes".
Labor Leader Bill Shorten seized on the report and said the leaks from the government party room showed Mr Abbott was unfit to govern the country.
"What is most telling about these reports is that there are Liberal Party members leaking against the Prime Minister. A party and a leader that cannot govern itself cannot govern Australia," he said.
But Palmer United Leader Clive Palmer said the Prime Minister should not have to justify his taxpayer-funded travel, even if used solely for party business.
"I think it's a very poor situation that our national leader couldn't legitimately go anywhere to talk to any Australian, be it a political or other function or whatever, because he is the prime minister of this country," he said in Canberra.
