Tony Abbott, who once described Kevin Rudd as a ''hyper-control freak'' for his autocratic media management, has gagged his own ministers from media interviews without prior approval from the Prime Minister's office.
The communications clampdown was issued hours after Education Minister Christopher Pyne revealed in an interview with Fairfax Media the government's agenda to take an axe to the university sector.
It comes less than a week after Immigration Minister Scott Morrison put the announcement of asylum seeker boat arrivals behind a curtain of censorship.
Mr Abbott has declared his personal intention to be measured in his media appearances and ''take politics off the front page''.
In an email leaked to The Australian Financial Review, Mr Abbott's senior press secretary, James Boyce, informs ministerial staff that all requests for interviews, right down to ABC local outlets, must be vetted by Kate Walshe who has taken over leadership of communications in Mr Abbott's office.
