Shut up, Tony Abbott. You’re your own worst enemy

IN trying to rally his shrinking troops, Tony Abbott is highlighting his own deficiencies. He needs to shut up and give his party a chance, writes Karen Brooks.

IF there’s one thing most people concede when they discuss former PM Tony Abbott, it’s that he was a good — as in effective — opposition leader. Problem is, Abbott can’t seem to stop reliving those days, even if it means the party he now opposes is his own.

Calling out Christopher Pyne for being disloyal seems like a case of pot/kettle, because ever since Abbott was ousted from office — and despite promising to retire with “no wrecking, no undermining and no sniping” — this is all he’s done; gnawing away at the LNP foundations like a termite.

Only last week, he offered up his vision for Australia at a talk he gave to the Institute for Public Affairs in Brisbane. Using bellicose language, he proffered a six-point plan that riffed off US President Donald Trump’s hustings slogan, entitled “Make Australia Work Again”.

The implication being that Australia is broken and Abbott and his “conservative voices” are the ones to fix it.

Yeah, because that worked so well for him last time, didn’t it?

Deploying terms such as “drawing up new battlelines”, “jihadis” and “fight the good fight”, along with pushing every conservative alarm button available, he discussed matters such as immigration, energy, education, economy, housing and safety.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has spent much time recently actively undermining PM Malcolm Turnbull. (Pic: Jonathan Ng)

In typical fashion, he reduced very complex ideas to as few words as possible, made spurious links between things like immigration and housing affordability, discussed building a “big coal-fired power station” and reducing wind farm subsidies but, ultimately, failed to offer anything but platitudes as solutions.

In the same talk, Abbott also vowed to outlast the current Prime Minister and even hinted at a return to power, declaring he’d be there to “pick up the pieces” when things went sour under Malcolm Turnbull.

While a great deal of what he said will appeal to a conservative base and those unhappy with Turnbull, is it really helpful to keep giving this man a megaphone and inviting him to challenge and thus destabilise his leader?

His IPA speech was akin to a campaign launch.

Whether you love or loathe Turnbull and the LNP, surely what Abbott’s doing — constantly bobbing up on radio and television as well as on the speaking circuit, consistently and relentlessly burrowing away under his own leader — isn’t healthy for anyone, least of all the party he once led and clearly desires to do so again.

His ambition might be understandable if it wasn’t so embarrassingly naked and try-hard.

He’s never recovered from being deposed. Yet, there were good reasons Abbott was lopped, despite the lessons of Labor’s revolving door leadership.

The main one being he was a dreadful leader who made poor decisions, backflipped on promises, and relied on sloganeering, fearmongering and divisive, shouty politics to defend and maintain his position.

Has Tony recovered from being deposed? His current actions would have many assuming he has not. (Pic: AP/Rick Rycroft)

Lest we forget, when Abbott was prime minister he promised a government of no surprises.

He also promised no cuts to education and health, no new taxes, no changes to pensions, no rise in university fees. He also promised a growth in foreign aid, to maintain the same level of funding for specific indigenous programs, no cuts to ABC and SBS funding and so on.

All of these were broken in the first appalling Budget he delivered with Treasurer, smokin’ Joe Hockey.

There’s no need to rehash some of his less than astute observations and comments about everything from women to indigenous people, homosexuals and the death of a soldier in Afghanistan, let alone some of his unpopular and cringe-worthy “captain’s calls”.

Typical of Abbott, it’s how he handles himself when in charge that’s telling.

Able to fire at will when a major target is in his sights, he appears incompetent when the same scrutiny is turned on him. Like the pugilist he is, he comes out arms swinging.

This is why he’s good in opposition — at attacking — but ineffectual when he is on the ropes.

Nevertheless, recreating his glory days by opposing the LNP so ruthlessly, is utterly indefensible.

I can’t help but pity him as he behaves in an increasingly dysfunctional manner.

Consumed by his dethroning, he’s allowing it to dominate his entire life, to the detriment of the party and country he professes to love.

In trying to rally his shrinking troops, he’s failing to recognise this is not a “good fight” and he is his own worst enemy. It’s time for him to find his dignity, take a suppository of wisdom, shut up, and at the very least, give his party a chance to “work again”.

Dr Karen Brooks is a honorary senior research fellow at the University of Queensland.