Tony Abbott hints at future ambitions in election day interview

FORMER prime minister Tony Abbott has shared his thoughts on the humbling experience of campaigning as a “virtually anonymous figure”.

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FORMER prime minister Tony Abbott has used an election day interview to hint at further frontbench ambitions, using a slew of football analogies.

The deposed leader, who is recontesting his Sydney seat of Warringah in the election he had hoped to lead, said he had played in “a lot of footy teams”, and was treating his position in the government in the same way he saw his spot on those squads.

“I’ve played in a lot of footy teams over the years,” he told radio shock jock Alan Jones in an interview aired during Channel 7’s election night coverage.

“From time to time, I’ve been dropped from first grade to second grade. You’ve just got to accept the selectors’ verdict, play as well as you can, and see what the future holds.”

Mr Abbott made the comments after Jones quizzed him on the humbling position he found himself when he was photographed cutting a lonely figure in the pouring rain at Manly’s commuter ferry wharf.

“How does it feel for the past six weeks to give out dodgers at the ferry and the bus stop and the train station and suddenly, in spite of everything you’ve achieved for the party and the nation, you were virtually an anonymous figure?” he asked.

Mr Abbott maintained that the campaign was “not about me”, noting that “most political careers end in disappointment in one way or the other.”

In his university rugby career at least, Mr Abbott was also hopeful the future held greater things.

He captained Sydney University’s fourth grade premiers at one stage, and spent most of his time with the seconds, but was always trying to make to the first XV, which he did at age 19.

The prop-turned-politician was dumped as prime minister by his own party to make way for Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership last year, and shocked political observers by remaining in parliament after the September coup.

Though he’s repeatedly said he’s happy to serve as member for Warringah, Mr Abbott has never ruled out returning to the frontbench in the future, fuelling speculation he is waiting in the wings to be picked for a higher position.

Tony Abbott and wife Margie vote at Forestville Public school on election day. Picture: Braden Fastier

In Saturday’s interview, Mr Abbott compared himself to former prime minister John Howard for having faced “political ups and downs”.

“John Howard is now lauded as the greatest living Liberal but that is not how the people felt on the night of the election in 2007 when he lost his seat. So, look, you just have to roll with the punches. You have to accept here are ups and downs in public life and make the most of it all,” he said.

“I’ve been a member of parliament now for 22 years. I’ve been to the highest elected job in the country but I’ve had some disappointments too.”

With his successor, Mr Turnbull, tipped to be returned to the top job after today’s vote, Mr Abbott was asked if he hoped to be invited to join the front bench of the new government.

“This is entirely a matter for the prime minister. It’s entirely a matter for him,” he said.

“I’m hoping to be the Member of Warringah after the election. There’s plenty of things I can do.”

Although he wouldn’t indulge speculation on what those future “things” might be, the MP was happy to imagine what the election campaign would have looked like with himself as leader.

Continuing the football theme, Jones asked how things would have played out if Mr Abbott could “defend his premiership” as captain.

“It would have been a different campaign obviously,” he said.

“My thinking back in September last year was that we would seek a mandate for serious savings that we should have another look at the measures that were blocked in the Senate and very overtly and explicitly and right upfront go to the people and say, ‘Look, if we are going to have long-term budget responsibility we need to embrace these difficult but necessary decisions.’”

Jones also asked Mr Abbott about the “inheritance of debt” facing young Australians, inquiring about how his young adult children were faring in relation to the heated housing market.

The father-of-three replied that while one of his daughters “got a bit of a lucky break” and was in the process of buying a home, the other two were on “different trajectories”.

Of the remaining two sisters, Mr Abbott said, one was paying rent and would struggle to break into the housing market “unless she can get her income up pretty substantially”.

The other “has the prospect of quite a high income and, notwithstanding quite a high HECS debt, I think will manage overtime and do pretty well.”

But, he said, “there is no substitute for a strong economy, particularly a strong economy which is capable of providing people with a lot of economic opportunities — because otherwise, it can be a long, hard grind for people.”

In an earlier interview this week, Mr Abbott criticised Mr Turnbull’s campaign for failing to focus on “the big issues” like budget repair, national security and border security.

The former leader is expected to be safely returned as MP for Warringah.

He’s held the blue ribbon seat on Sydney’s north shore since 1994, and sits on a margin of 15 per cent.

See the full interview in Seven News special election coverage today from 5pm AEST

Originally published as Tony Abbott hints at future ambitions in election day interview