EMBATTLED Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday that he would urge ruling Liberal Party MPs to reject calls for a leadership ballot next week that could potentially oust him.

Big electoral swings against conservative state governments in Victoria in November and Queensland in January have been laid at his door by disgruntled party members.

The revolt within Liberal Party ranks was brought to a head by monarchist Mr Abbott’s personal decision to make the Duke of Edinburgh a knight on Australia’s national day last month.

Backbencher Luke Simpkins sent an email to his colleagues saying that he will move a motion at a party meeting on Tuesday calling for Mr Abbott to declare that the jobs of he and his deputy Julie Bishop are open to a ballot of 102 government MPs.

“They are perfectly entitled to call for this, but the next point to make is that they are asking the party room to vote out the people that the -electorate voted in in September 2013,” said Mr Abbott.

“We are not the Labour Party and we are not going to repeat the chaos and the instability of the Labour years.”

The most likely challenger would be Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who lost the party leadership to the more conservative Mr Abbott by one vote in 2009 while the Liberals were in opposition.

Draft legislation to charge for currently free medical services and to let universities raise tuition fees has been blocked by the Senate and fuelled popular anger against his coalition government