A DEFIANT Malcolm Turnbull is refusing to step aside as federal Liberal leader, saying he will contest a leadership contest on Tuesday.

"I will be standing tomorrow," he told reporters in Canberra.

Earlier, Mr Turnbull spent nearly an hour inside his Parliament House office with Joe Hockey, the man most expect to be the party's new leader after a meeting of Liberal MPs and senators on Tuesday morning.

Mr Turnbull said Mr Hockey would support him on Tuesday by voting against a leadership spill.

"He would support me tomorrow in the spill," Mr Turnbull said Mr Hockey told him.

"He told me that he'd vote against a spill."

But asked whether that meant Mr Hockey wouldn't run against him if there was a spill, the opposition leader told reporters they would have to ask Mr Hockey.

After his meeting with Mr Turnbull, Mr Hockey then met with Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane.

Senior Liberal MP Tony Abbott visited the party's deputy Julie Bishop earlier in the day.

Mr Abbott confirmed he intended to contest a leadership ballot during a Liberal Party meeting scheduled for 9am (AEDT) Tuesday, but has said he would stand aside if Mr Hockey threw his hat in the ring.

Ms Bishop wandered in and out of her office in the company of Sophie Mirabella, one of more than a dozen Liberals who quit key roles last week.

Ms Bishop wouldn't comment on her meeting with Mr Abbott.

Michael Johnson, one of the group that quit their portfolios last week, told AAP earlier on Monday, he had it on good authority from his colleagues that Mr Hockey and Peter Dutton would be running as a ticket on Tuesday morning.

He told AAP this would re-energise the Liberal Party.

Mr Hockey fuelled leadership speculation on Sunday after meeting with colleague Peter Dutton, who is expected to stand as his deputy.

Liberal powerbroker Nick Minchin and senior Liberals Christopher Pyne, Ian Mcfarlane and Eric Abetz had discussions with Mr Turnbull on Monday morning ahead of Tuesday's showdown.

Mr Hockey previously backed Mr Turnbull even as a string of senior Liberals deserted the opposition leader over a deal done with the government on emissions trading.

Mr Abbott arrived at Parliament House on Monday saying he was not "over confident" he had the numbers.

"I'm still talking patiently and carefully to all of my colleagues," he told reporters.

Mitch Fifield, one of more than a dozen Liberal MPs to resign from the front bench or other senior positions last week, said the Liberals had already moved on from Mr Turnbull.

"On Tuesday we will have a new leader of the party," he said, while backing Mr Hockey as the replacement.

An opinion poll, published on Monday, shows the opposition's treasury spokesman has the edge over Mr Turnbull with voters.

At least two Liberals, chief climate change negotiator Ian Macfarlane and senator Gary Humphries, declared they were in Mr Turnbull's corner.

And former opposition leader John Hewson, rolled as party leader in 1994, said the moves against Mr Turnbull were both a tragedy and gross disloyalty.

He also warned Mr Hockey that he risked ending his political career "early" if he accepted the leadership.

But Howard government foreign minister Alexander Downer said he thought Mr Hockey would be a good choice.

"He was a very good minister and handled some difficult issues. He's a charming guy as you can see just from watching him on television, a very entertaining and amusing person, a very decent person," Mr Downer told Fairfax Radio.

"I think if he does become the leader he would be a very interesting choice."

Meanwhile, as the Senate entered its fifth hour on Monday, MPs had not voted on a single amendment to the government's plan to tackle climate change.

The Senate had been re-called this week to debate the carbon pollution reduction scheme - Labor's scheme to cut carbon emissions.

There are hundreds of amendments to be voted on and the Senate has agreed to sit until 10pm (AEDT) on Monday.

In the face of what the government labelled as persistent filibustering by some coalition MPs, the Senate managed to deal with just 34 of 210 amendments during more than 15 hours of debate last week.

Rebel coalition senators are keen to refer the legislation to a Senate committee, delaying any final vote until February.

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