Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop has rejected suggestions she's under internal pressure to relinquish the federal coalition's treasury portfolio, as her colleagues moved to back her.
The Weekend Australian reported Liberal MPs were becoming frustrated with blunders by Ms Bishop, including forgetting the cash rate in a radio interview and plagiarism scandals.
But Ms Bishop on Sunday denied she was under any pressure from her colleagues.
"There is no pressure. If you're referring to the article in The Australian, well, all I can say is that the editor of the Australian is very close friends with the prime minister and I think people can draw their own conclusions," she told reporters in Perth.
The report said other Liberals were frustrated at Ms Bishop's failure to have any impact on Treasurer Wayne Swan since she switched to the opposition treasury role three months ago.
"Well, if the criticism is that I have failed to highlight Wayne Swan's inadequacies I would suggest that he is doing that job very well himself," Ms Bishop said.
Asked if she had been under-performing or was considering stepping down, Ms Bishop replied "no", adding she continued to enjoy great relationships with her colleagues.
Federal Liberals have backed Ms Bishop in the wake of the report.
Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton, seen as a possible replacement for Ms Bishop should she step aside, said she had his full support and the confidence of everybody that mattered within the party.
Mr Dutton said it was Mr Swan who should be under scrutiny.
"Wayne Swan has been a disastrous treasurer of this country," he told Sky News on Sunday.
"I'd be very surprised if he survives to Christmas or to the next reshuffle."
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Robb has also come out in support of Ms Bishop and said a reshuffle of coalition portfolios was not in sight.
He said Ms Bishop had a better grasp of economics than Mr Swan.
"Julie is one of our most talented colleagues ... In two months, I think Julie has made a very good fist of the toughest job bar the leadership," Mr Robb told ABC Television.
In an article published in News Ltd papers on Sunday, Edith Cowan University politics lecturer Peter van Onselen said Ms Bishop's performance had been "less than ordinary" and she had "the stench of political death about her".
Dr van Onselen was also critical of Ms Bishop when it was revealed a staffer had written an essay, some of which was plagiarised, for a book he edited earlier this year.
He claimed Ms Bishop had stopped being taken seriously following plagiarism scandals and other blunders.
"Each time she rises to ask a question in parliament, the Labor Party backbench taunt her with the nickname `Xerox, the world's best copier'," Dr van Onselen said.
"Each minister, including the prime minister, who responds to her questions, starts by asking if she drafted the question herself."
Ms Bishop hit back at Dr van Onselen.
"It would seem that an Edith Cowan University academic is developing a very unhealthy obsession about me," she said.
