Tony Abbott calls on colleagues to explain his Newspoll dumping in the wake of Malcolm Turnbull’s bad opinion polls
FORMER Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared “life is not fair” as the Turnbull Government prepares to notch up 30 bad opinion polls — the same number reached by Mr Abbott when he was dumped as leader.
NSW
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FORMER Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared “life is not fair” as the Turnbull Government prepares to notch up 30 bad opinion polls — the same number reached by Mr Abbott when he was dumped as leader.
Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph as a poll milestone approaches, Mr Abbott called on his colleagues to explain why he was booted from office after losing 30 consecutive opinion polls to Labor in 2015.
“As for that particular metric, that was not my metric and it is for others to explain the rhyme or the reason in it, “ Mr Abbott said.
“Life is not fair. We know that.”
Mr Abbott also stoked leadership tensions by hinting that voters were still hopeful that he could help reverse the Government’s political fortunes.
“The message I am getting from across Melbourne today is that people want us to do better,” he said. “They want their Government to do better and that’s the challenge for all of us whether it’s me, Angus Taylor, Kevin Andrews or Malcolm Turnbull.”
“Our challenge is to be as good as we possibly can.”
Mr Abbott’s latest comments come as he prepares to ramp up his pro-coal campaign by cycling through the Latrobe Valley — home of the now-closed Hazelwood coal-fired power station — when the Newspoll result is released tomorrow. The former PM is a member of a new “ginger group” within the Coalition calling for taxpayer’s money to be invested in new coal power stations.
The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal Mr Abbott has been approached by a number of former Turnbull backers in the past week expressing support for his return to Cabinet. “I am not a supporter of Tony for leadership but when it comes to being an attack dog there is no one better,’ one MP said yesterday.
A disastrous results in tomorrow’s Newspoll is expected to give fresh life to leadership tensions as key moderates desert Mr Turnbull warning he no longer has their support. Mr Turnbull is not expected to face an immediate challenge but has lost the support of several key backbenchers who voted for him in the 2015 spill.
“People that supported him want some support back,” one MP who voted for Mr Turnbull said.
Several backbenchers also told The Sunday Telegraph they would not use images of Mr Turnbull on campaign signs in the lead up to the next election.
“There aren’t too many members out there saying they will put him on their material,” another backbencher said.
* Follow Annika Smethurst on Twitter @annikasmethurst