On Sunday, he told reporters in Queensland, "it's good to get some constructive feedback".

"I think it's very important for all us," he said with a wry smile.

During a speech to the NSW Liberal Party State Council on Saturday, Mr Turnbull faced open ridicule when he spoke about the party.

"We are not run by factions," he said to guffaws of laughter from an audience of Liberal members.

Mr Turnbull appeared visibly uncomfortable at the lectern but added, "well you may dispute that, but I have to tell you, from experience, we are not run by factions".

"Nor are we run by big business, or by deals in back rooms."

This also saw scoffing from the crowd and was clearly in response to Mr Turnbull's ousting of Mr Abbott in September.

While announcing federal funding for light rail on the Gold Coast, Mr Turnbull tried to clarify the comments that landed him in hot water.

"The point I was making was that the parliamentary Liberal Party ... is a much more independent group of individuals."

On Sunday, Mr Turnbull received some support from Trade Minister Andrew Robb, who said most of the laughter at the Liberal meeting was "good humoured carry-on".

"That's what I've been told by people who were there. So, I wouldn't read too much into it," Mr Robb told Sky News.

The Trade Minister and former federal director of the Liberal Party said that Mr Turnbull was rightly saying that factions in the party "don't control us".

But Mr Robb - who backed Mr Abbott in the September leadership spill - conceded that "[Mr Turnbull's] comments might have stirred the passions of one or two in the audience".

This came after Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said it was "early days" when asked how the Nationals were finding life under a Turnbull prime ministership.

Mr Joyce - who has made no secret of the fact he did not want a mid-term change of leaders - told Sky News, "it is what it is and we are going to make this thing work".

With Adam Gartrell