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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told colleagues that Tanya Plibersek has "taken a leaf out of Julia Gillard's playbook" and is engaged in a "campaign" to undermine her leader Bill Shorten.
In an extraordinary address to the Coalition joint parties meeting on Tuesday, Ms Bishop linked Labor's internal ructions over the party's policy on turn-backs of asylum seeker boats with the ALP leadership.
She told colleagues the deputy Labor leader had embarked on a "campaign to undermine Mr Shorten", according to a source at the meeting.
"It is increasingly obvious that Mr Shorten is having to fight off an attack on his leadership by Tanya Plibersek.
"The next step will be to get the unions onside, which is what she is doing."
Ms Bishop claimed Ms Plibersek saw the royal commission into corruption in the trade union movement as an opportunity to advance her own leadership ambitions because "it is likely to do great damage to Mr Shorten's reputation".
Ms Bishop was apparently suggesting that Ms Plibersek had led the Left faction in quashing any prospect of boat turn backs becoming Labor policy.
On Tuesday, Mr Shorten, a member of the Right, was forced to draw a line under the debate, slapping down immigration spokesman Richard Marles's suggestion Labor could embrace the Coalition policy.
"The loony Left is still clinging to the belief that opposing our border protection policy is a humane thing to do, notwithstanding the previous government's policies resulted in more than 1200 deaths at sea. Stopping people getting on boats is the humane thing to do," Ms Bishop said.
Later in question time, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison took up the theme, saying Ms Plibersek was "running Labor's border protection policy".
"[Bill Shorten] can't even stand up to the Member for Sydney, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, because that's who is running border protection policy now," he said.
A Labor source said Ms Bishop's remarks were ironic given that she is widely seen as the shaping heir apparent to Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"Cute tactic from Julie Bishop in an attempt to distract from her none too subtle moves on The Lodge," the source said.
"There's never been a clearer case of someone projecting their own ambitions onto others.
"She likes to think she's Wonderwoman, but Wonderwoman doesn't get caught plagiarising speeches from the Wall Street Journal or representing James Hardie against asbestos victims."
Mr Shorten's office declined to comment.
