Tony Abbott has lashed out at one his former lieutenants, accusing cabinet minister Christopher Pyne of not being loyal to him during his prime ministership.
Mr Pyne has been recorded boasting he voted for Malcolm Turnbull in every federal Liberal leadership ballot the now prime minister had contested, and so had Attorney-General George Brandis.
The tape, reported by News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt, captures Mr Pyne celebrating the success of the left faction of the Liberal Party during its federal council meeting on Friday night.
But Mr Pyne's voting habits were news to Mr Abbott on Monday morning.
The former prime minister reminded 2GB's Ray Hadley that Mr Pyne was not just in cabinet, but also a member of the leadership team when he was in office.
"It's important that you show loyalty," he said.
"But if (Mr Pyne is) to be believed on Friday night that loyalty was never there which is incredibly disappointing."
After hearing Mr Pyne's "confession", Mr Abbott insisted MPs need to be fair dinkum with the Australian people.
"It looks like that's not been true of Christopher."
Mr Pyne made the comments while arguing same-sex marriage could be legalised sooner than everyone thinks.
On Monday he clarified the remarks, insisting marriage equality would a be reality now if Labor backed a plebiscite.
The government has no plans to alter the policy to hold one, he said.
Liberal MP Craig Kelly tried to put Mr Pyne's comments in context, saying they were shared late at night at an afterparty and should be taken with a grain of salt.
"In a bar after midnight, you tend to talk things up a little bit," he told Sky News.
But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he understood Mr Abbott's outrage.
"This is another example of the circus in Canberra," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"People want the politicians to put the national interest first, not their internal bickering."
Crossbench senator Cory Bernardi - who was a fierce factional rival of Mr Pyne before quitting the Liberals - couldn't resist weighing in.
"When you have senior ministers openly boasting that the Left have control, you've lost," he said.
"I have my own experience with Christopher Pyne. He has, on a previous occasion, told me he would be very happy in the Labor party if they had a seat where he lived."
