‘I shouldn’t have eaten an onion’: Abbott’s biggest regrets as prime minister

TONY Abbott has finally joined the ranks of everyone ever, agreeing that it was not the best idea for him to bite into a raw onion - among other things.

TONY Abbott has admitted his regret over one of the most unfortunately memorable moments of his prime ministerial career — biting into that onion.

This week marks two years since the former Liberal leader was deposed as prime minister, and two years and six months since one of his weirdest moments in the role.

The then PM was on a tour of a Tasmanian farm when he grabbed and bit into a raw onion, attacking the brown, layered bulb, skin and all.

The move perplexed constituents and commentators and drew international bewilderment.

Mr Abbott himself declined to comment on the unusual move at the time, but has finally admitted oniongate was not among his proudest moments.

Regrets? He’s had a few.

In a candid interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Abbott listed the incident among his regrets.

“I probably shouldn’t have winked at Neil Mitchell. I probably shouldn’t have eaten an onion. I probably should have had walk coaching,” he said.

The backbencher was of course referring to his gait that also saw him constantly mocked, and an incident that took place during an ABC radio interview where he was seen winking at the host (who was John Faine rather than Neil Mitchell), when a sex worker called into the station while he was on-air.

Among his other regrets Mr Abbott listed not giving more consideration to a nuclear powered submarine or cracking down on politician entitlements.

Mr Abbott went on to say he had learnt some important lessons during his leadership.

“The important thing is to learn as you go through life,” he said.

“We often learn more from our failures than we do from our successes because I suppose failing is searing whereas success we just assume.”

Tony Abbott admits the day he was knifed was ‘not great’, but now appears happy on the backbench. Picture: Lukas Coch/AAP

The anniversary of Mr Abbott’s knifing fell on Thursday and was acknowledged by the Opposition Leader during parliament’s question time.

Mr Abbott’s successor, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, took the opportunity to note the successes of the Turnbull Government since he took the reins citing newly released jobs figures.

But Mr Abbott remains convinced he led a good government, and said he has “not the slightest doubt” that the government would have won last year’s federal election under his leadership.

He admitted the day he was ousted from the leadership “wasn’t a great day”, but said he wouldn’t let that ruin the “six good years” he had as the Liberal Party leader.