Divisions within federal Cabinet over budget policy versus political strategy have raised speculation of tensions between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey.
Sources said there was a view in the government that the two offices were not communicating effectively, amid differences over the degree to which the government should continue losing support for pursuing budget cuts it has no hope of securing.
It is believed Mr Abbott has favoured a more pragmatic approach by dropping some budget savings measures but has met resistance from the Treasurer, who is keen to stay the course to protect the budget repair task.
Asked if there was tension between the offices, one senior coalition MP agreed, before adding, "but there are tensions everywhere at present".
The MP said it was clear some people wanted to press the reset button after a horror budget politically but were asking how that could be done while Mr Hockey remained Treasurer.
Ministers and MPs were aghast on Thursday as the government first flagged binning its unpopular $7 GP-tax as a policy "barnacle", before re-committing to the proposal as if nothing had happened.
The confusion reached a climax when senior government ministers, Senate leader Eric Abetz, Health Minister Peter Dutton, and Mr Hockey, all weighed in to deny any change to the policy's status.
This was despite a welter of media reports arising from a series of separate background conversations that had taken place with the Prime Minister's office on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Hockey told reporters the GP "price signal" initiative remained alive, even after several journalists at different media organisations had reported the policy was being benched indefinitely.
Mr Hockey said the government still intended to take its co-payment to the Parliament, as Liberal senator Ian Macdonald threatened to cross the floor and vote against the fee if it was brought on for debate.
Later Mr Hockey told Sydney's 2GB the policy was not a liability to the government.
"Look, it is not a barnacle," he said. It is a policy that is about trying to fix some of the challenges associated with the mess that was left to us by the previous government and one of them was that Medicare has grown from $10 billion a year 10 years ago to $20 billion now a year and the Medicare levy only raises half of that."
The Treasurer's intervention as the most senior economic minister in the government appeared to have put him at odds with Mr Abbott, forcing the Prime Minister to fall into line.
However, it is not clear what the government intends to do regarding the plan, with one suggestion being that it would seek to bypass the Parliament to bring in the charge by regulation rather than through legislation.
That could involve restructuring the payment by reducing the Medicare rebate for bulk-billed patients by $5 on each rebate claimed.
The government was not saying, with ministers refusing to rule in or out any options.
There are three competing versions on the future of the co-payment now, ranging from benching it for political reasons, to modifying it and pursuing it through regulation to bypass the Senate, to attempting to pass it as set out in the May budget.
Speaking in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Hockey said the policy stood and the government would pursue it in the Parliament when it was able to do so.
Liberal Senator Ian Macdonald has threatened to cross the floor over the GP fee proposal if the government brings it before Parliament.
The Australian Medical Association has called on the government to make a clear statement on the whether it has shelved or is still pursuing a GP fee.
Earlier on Thursday, Senator Macdonald told Sky News he did not think a GP fee was the right way to go and he would vote against it.
"I think a price signal is important. I think the scheme that they introduced by surprise, I might say on budget night, is not the right way to go," he said.
