Coalition ministers hope their blistering attack on Tony Abbott has finally silenced him ahead of Federal Parliament's return but the former prime minister's most loyal confidante says he's not going anywhere, declaring Malcolm Turnbull's government is "on life support".
While the Prime Minister and his team will seek to shift the attention back to energy security and their budget savings bill, Labor will exploit the latest round of leadership tensions while also pressuring the government over the Fair Work Commission's penalty rate cuts.
Pause
Mute
Current Time0:00
/
Duration Time0:15
Advertisement
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
Fullscreen
MORE FEDERAL POLITICS VIDEOS
Previous slideNext slide
Libs rally around Turnbull after Abbott ...
Video duration
01:50
Turnbull and Widodo talk trade
Video duration
00:23
Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrives ...
Video duration
01:46
Howard's war: why we invaded Iraq
Video duration
01:27
Abbott's insurgency aids Labor
Video duration
01:55
No rate cut says RBA head
Video duration
02:23
Turnbull won't be 'provoked' by Abbott
MORE VIDEOS
Libs rally around Turnbull after Abbott snipes
An attempt by Tony Abbott to drag the Liberal Party to the political right has backfired as former Abbott loyalists broke ranks in disgust at comments they viewed as disloyal to the party and a flagrant attempt to visit revenge on Malcolm Turnbull.
Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
While government MPs want to regroup after last week's damaging public display following a speech by Mr Abbott in which he said the Coalition had become "Labor lite" and was "drifting to defeat", Peta Credlin has weighed in with a damning assessment of her own.
While conceding Mr Abbott could have handled his intervention better, Ms Credlin – his controversial former chief of staff – says he has a right to speak out on policy as a "custodian" of the party's right-wing base, amid fears they are fleeing to One Nation and its ilk.
RELATED CONTENT
She says she has spoken with hundreds of grassroots Liberal members in recent weeks and the anger is palpable.
"My phone is ringing off the hook. The party in Canberra is not listening, understanding or connecting with the party around the country," she told Sky News.
Advertisement
"But by God they're angry and they are leaving in droves and it shows in Newspoll after Newspoll. The party is bleeding, the supporters are going and I honestly fear the party will not get them back.
"It's on life support."
- SHARE
- SHARE ON FACEBOOKSHARE
- SHARE ON TWITTERTWEET
- LINK
Peta Credlin says the party in Canberra is not listening, understanding or connecting with the party around the country. Photo: Rohan Thomson
Ms Credlin insists Mr Abbott is not seeking to make a comeback to the top job: "I think he would have a hard time reconciling around that cabinet table with people like Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop and others. It's still a very personal grievance that he feels."
Mr Abbott declined to comment on Sunday, saying only he would let his speech speak for itself.
- SHARE
- SHARE ON FACEBOOKSHARE
- SHARE ON TWITTERTWEET
- LINK
Ms Credlin insists Mr Abbott is not seeking to make a comeback to the top job.
On Thursday he outlined a five-point plan to recover the government's conservative credentials through such measures as cutting immigration, cutting spending, cutting taxes, ending the renewable energy target and scrapping the Human Rights Commission.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann – once a loyal Abbott ally – led the subsequent criticism of the former PM, calling him "self-indulgent", "destructive" and "sad".
Senator Cormann doubled down on his attack on Sunday, saying while he hoped Mr Abbott would ultimately come back into the tent "enough is enough".
"Obviously private messages hadn't been heeded and I thought it was important to send a very clear message," Senator Cormann said.
He says he was not asked by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull or his office to launch the scathing assault, which many in the party saw as a decisive moment in the Turnbull versus Abbott fight: "It was entirely a reflection of my own views and I made the judgment it was necessary."
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said the government was "a shambles" and Mr Turnbull's leadership was at death's door.
"It is very clear that even people in his own party think that Malcolm Turnbull is not providing leadership for the country and that is the vacuum that Tony Abbott is trying to step into – a vacuum created by a government without a sense of purpose, without a narrative and without a reason for being."
The government hopes to get its so-called "omnibus" welfare bill and business tax cuts through Parliament's lower house by the end of the week.
However both are expected to face stiff resistance when they reach the Senate in March.
Senator Cormann says he has not given up on getting the omnibus bill through despite opposition from key Senate crossbench blocs.
"These conversations are still live, they are still ongoing and I'm certainly not prepared to put up the white flag."
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/fed...bott-confidante-declares-20170226-guln53.html
