Nick Xenophon: ‘Tony Abbott is being a huge pain in the arse’

FORMER Prime Minister turned backbencher Tony Abbott has been described as “a huge pain in the arse” by one of Australia’s most outspoken pollies.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, June 19, 2017. Picture: AAP /Mick Tsikas.

FORMER Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott has been described as “a huge pain in the arse” after he criticised the federal government’s May budget as “second best”.

Senator Nick Xenophon this afternoon told reporters “the budget was the budget that you get when you take into account the political realities of dealing with the crossbench”.

“But in my view we improved on a whole range of measures,” Mr Xenophon said.

“I need to use the sort of cut through language that Tony Abbott is renowned for.

“I think Tony Abbott is being a huge pain in the arse right now.”

Mr Xenophon’s comments come as Mr Abbott’s fellow MPs try to downplay the former prime minister’s criticism of the latest budget.

Mr Abbott was recorded at a Liberal Party branch meeting in Victoria on Monday night telling members senior government MPs blamed the Senate for the “taxing and spending” budget.

“Well, a party that has to do what’s second best because ‘the Senate made us do it’ is a party which needs some help,” he said, according a copy of the recording obtained by Fairfax Media.

Mr Abbott also told the gathering in the electorate of the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar he was speaking out because “we’ve got to just move the direction a little bit”.

“Just at this moment, let me tell you, we’re at a bit of a low ebb,” he said Treasurer Scott Morrison rejected Mr Abbott’s words as background noise. “I expect there will continue to be a bit of background noise here and there but governments don’t focus on the background noise,” he said in Sydney on Wednesday.

Fellow frontbencher Dan Tehan said the coalition government didn’t need any help, despite Mr Abbott’s suggestion.

“If you look at the history of the Australia parliament we’ve always had to get legislation through the House and through the Senate ... and you always needed to compromise,” he told Sky News.

“That’s what Tony Abbott did during the Howard government.” Mr Sukkar had said Mr Abbott’s guest appearance was longstanding invitation. Liberal factional tensions over the direction of the government have been rising in the past two week, since cabinet minister Christopher Pyne was caught boasting about his moderate faction’s influence.

Mr Abbott has made a number of speeches and radio appearances during that time. “I am very happy being a backbench member of the government because it gives me the freedom to speak as I think best,” he told his local Manly Daily. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who’s no stranger to leadership wars, believes when it comes to the big policy issues there’s little separating Mr Abbott and his replacement Malcolm Turnbull.

“Frankly, if I look at Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull, it just seems to be Tweedledum or Tweedledee,” he told ABC radio.

— With AAP

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.@Nick_Xenophon: @TonyAbbottMHR is a pain in the arse. #auspol MORE: https://t.co/zKuHwEbdcA pic.twitter.com/CU3WKV5hrg

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) July 5, 2017

Originally published as Nick Xenophon: ‘Tony Abbott is being a huge pain in the arse’