Tony Abbott has promised to consult more widely on future knighthoods, conceding his decision on Prince Philip has been a distraction for the federal and Queensland governments.
The prime minister has been ridiculed by his own Coalition Party colleagues, the media and the public for his decision to award a knighthood to Prince Philip this week.
It has also fed into growing speculation he may not lead the Liberal Party to the next election.
Speaking to media in Melbourne, he said he stood by the decision.
"I take it on the chin but I do want to assure people that I have heard and there will be considerably more consultation around these awards in the future," he said.
Mr Abbott also refused to weigh in on whether his chief of staff Peta Credlin was asked for advice on the appointment.
"I'm just not going to get into this kind of internal navel gazing,” he said.
“I'm really not.”
His comments were followed by a series of social media posts by News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who called for Ms Credlin's resignation.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne responded to the tweets on Wednesday, stating that there was no prospect of Mr Murdoch's advice being adopted.
Mr Pyne said Ms Credlin and Mr Abbott had performed a "remarkable role" getting the coalition elected and the chief of staff had his full support.
"I think that Peta Credlin is absolutely intrinsic to our success," he said.
Other Coalition MPs have distanced themselves in the wake of the Prince Philip announcement, which has been met with derision in local and international media and across the political divide.
Mr Abbott’s parliamentary colleagues such as Barnaby Joyce and Mathias Cormann said the decision was made by Mr Abbott, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten .
“It's a time warp where we're giving knighthoods to English royalty,” Mr Shorten said.
“On Australia Day, we're talking about Australia, Australian identity; the Government’s managed to find a British royal to give a medal to, a knighthood to.”
