Turnbull says no cabinet room for Abbott

Malcolm Turnbull has the opposite problem to Old Mother Hubbard: his cabinet is full.

The prime minister's predecessor Tony Abbott has made a bid, via a friend's newspaper column, to return to the coalition frontbench but the prime minister effectively nixed it on Monday by saying he had no plans for changes.

"I've got more people of cabinet material than I can fit into the cabinet, which is a good problem to have as a prime minister," he told ABC radio.