Lambie could work with PM alternatives

Senator Jacqui Lambie says she would find it easier to deal with Julie Bishop or Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister than Tony Abbott.

Senator Lambie told ABC Radio on Friday she found foreign affairs minister Ms Bishop very approachable and Mr Turnbull had been "very polite to me in the corridors" having met with him a few times.

"I would say yes, they would be (easier to deal with)," she said.

"But the thing is, it's okay to say they would be until they turn leader and whether or not they change their ways, that's the issue."

Ms Lambie is in Adelaide with SA independent senator Nick Xenophon touring the operations of shipbuilder ASC, visiting a social welfare provider, and touring a car components maker's operations.