Mr Morrison had been seen, until the September leadership spill that saw Malcolm Turnbull replace Tony Abbott, as politically close to the former prime minister and the leading light in senior conservative ranks.

But almost immediately since the change of leadership and his elevation to Treasurer, the hard right of the party have been questioning Mr Morrison's loyalty to the conservative cause.

Revelations in Fairfax Media on Monday that Mr Turnbull offered Mr Morrison the position of treasurer in a Turnbull government in February, seven months before Mr Abbott was dumped, have further damaged his cause.

The Treasurer downplayed that report on Monday, describing it as "old news" and a "tin foil hat conspiracy".

"It is old news...I mean, anyway, it is coming up to Christmas, people are trying to get people to buy newspapers and that is what happens," Mr Morrison said on Monday.

On Sunday night, Mr Morrison had suggested the story was designed to sell a new book by Hartcher. There is no such book.

But Mr Dutton is now being discussed as a possible future deputy leader by conservatives who are angry with Mr Morrison as well as deputy leader Julie Bishop, over the events of September.

The Immigration Minister's loyalty to Mr Abbott until the bitter end has also been noted, as has the fact that Mr Abbott now attends a regular lunch Mr Dutton hosts - the lunch is scheduled to be held again on Tuesday - of conservative MPs in Parliament House's so-called "Monkey Pod" meeting room.

Along with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Mr Dutton – who has maintained a hardline approach to border protection – is now seen as the most senior conservative in the cabinet following the axing of former ministers Kevin Andrews and Eric Abetz.

Fairfax Media spoke to half a dozen conservatives who said that Mr Morrison's standing with the party's right had been damaged by his handling of the switch from Mr Abbott to Mr Turnbull.

One said that "neither side now trusts Morrison; he has identified himself as being for sale" while Ms Bishop had also been "irrevocably damaged" by her involvement in the spill.

Another said that "Scott was the great white hope. Everyone thought he was the person Abbott would hand over to but not now. Dutton is now the most senior conservative ... if you want to raise an issue, you go to Dutton not Morrison."

And a third MP said that Mr Morrison had been repeatedly promoted by Mr Abbott and that, following his switch to Mr Turnbull, "he has a long way to come back" and the so-called "Monkey Pod" lunches – which have been running for years – were nothing sinister.

"Believe me, we aren't agitating against Turnbull. Right now conservatives are saying no one will touch Turnbull, the only beneficiary would be Morrison or Bishop and they are persona non grata."

Fairfax Media revealed last week that moderate Liberal MPs had suspicions a "resistance movement" had sprung up around Mr Abbott, and was backed by fellow travellers including Kevin Andrews, Andrew Nikolic and at least some attendees of the "Monkey Pod" lunches – including Angus Taylor, Michael Sukkar, Zed Seselja, Natasha Griggs, Craig Kelly and Ian Goodenough.

Mr Dutton said the lunch was simply "a gathering of like-minded people talking about important issues".

Another MP mentioned as a possible future leaders of the party's conservative wing is new cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg, who has launched a strong defence of coal exports since becoming Resources Minister and who on Sunday accused the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, of a failure of leadership in recent comments about the Paris terrorist attacks.

Mr Frydenberg also supported Mr Abbott until the end but is, however, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, which sets him apart from conservative colleagues.

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