After winning the leadership of the federal Liberal Party today Tony Abbott told a press conference he was humbled and daunted by the job ahead leading the party, but that there were wounds that needed to be healed.
He said it had been a tumultuous week for the Liberal Party, a big day for him and a tough day for some of his colleagues.
"I do feel humbled and daunted by what's ahead but I also feel proud and exhilarated at the prospect of leading this great Liberal Party," he said.
"Obviously, there are some wounds that do need to be healed."
Tony Abbott heads back to his office after defeating Malcolm Turnbull by one vote.Credit: Glen McCurtayne
He admitted that there were times when he had ‘‘stuffed up’’ politics but said that when someone became a leader, they had made a new start.
Mr Abbott took the opportunity to ‘‘apologise for the errors of my past’’ and asked the public to judge him from this point.
Mr Abbott said that he had told his colleagues that he would do his best to be a consultative and collegial leader.
He stressed the Liberal Party would have a ‘‘strong and effective’’ ETS but that he would not put Australia at a competitive disadvantage.
‘‘I think that climate change is real and that man does make a contribution,’’ he said.
But he said there was argument about the level of that contribution and what should be done about it.
Mr Abbott said the argument was about how to deal with climate change.
‘‘The last thing we should be doing is rushing through a great big new tax just so that Kevin Rudd can take a trophy to Copenhagen,’’ he said.
Becoming leader of the Opposition was the last thing he would have expected a week ago, Mr Abbott said, but it had become clear that to change positions on the ETS issue, there needed to be a change of leadership.
Mr Abbott said that he wanted Mr Hockey to be the Opposition’s treasury spokesman.
In what could be perceived as a swipe at the leadership style of Mr Turnbull, Mr Abbott said that political parties do not work when someone announces a position and expects others to follow.
He did, however, pay tribute to Mr Turnbull, saying they had sometimes been sparring partners but had mostly been friends.
He said his respect and admiration for Mr Turnbull had grown in recent months.
"Malcolm has shone in adversity."
He said his colleagues were gearing up for the fight of their lives.
Mr Abbott’s new deputy, Julie Bishop, said that Mr Abbott was a ‘‘fighter’’ and she was honoured to work with him.
‘‘He is a personality, a character, a fighter, and I’m honoured to be able to serve as his deputy,’’ she told reporters. ‘‘As Tony said, we will have a contest at the next election whenever that may be.’’
Ms Bishop paid tribute to Mr Turnbull, who she said had been a friend for more than 20 years.
‘‘He [Mr Turnbull] had so much style and flair and colour,’’ she said.
But she said the party would now move forward with a new leader.
Ms Bishop stressed that she had said from the outset that there was no logical reason for the ETS legislation to be ‘‘rammed through’’ Parliament ahead of Copenhagen.
Mr Abbott said there were arguments in favour of an ETS but said there were also strong arguments against it.
‘‘The right circumstances are critical for any ETS, there is no point in bringing in an ETS prematurely,’’ he said.
He said the time for an ETS was when the United States adopted such a policy.
On the question of industrial relations, he said the phrase ‘‘WorkChoices’’ was dead and that while no one would mention it again, Australia needed a ‘‘free and flexible’’ economy.
Mr Abbott said he was not afraid to fight an election on climate change policy.
‘‘And I am not frightened of an election on this issue, I really am not frightened of an election on this issue.’’
The Liberals' party room had decided in a secret ballot to seek a deferral of a Senate vote on Labor legislation setting up the carbon pollution reduction scheme and, failing that, vote it down.
‘‘We will seek to refer the legislation to [a Senate] committee for further scrutiny,’’ Mr Abbott said.
‘‘If in the end we cannot get the support of the cross benches for that course of action we will oppose the legislation in the Senate this week.’’
That was the right thing to do, Mr Abbott said.
‘‘This emissions trading scheme legislation, which is really an energy taxation scheme, does deserve the most rigorous scrutiny by this Parliament. We can’t just wave that through the Parliament.’’
Mr Abbott accused the Rudd Government of wasting taxpayers’ money since its election in 2007.
"A waste of money that has been worse than [that of former Labor prime minister Gough] Whitlam,’’ he said.
Mr Abbott suggested the economy should be the key issue at the next election.
‘‘In the end the fundamental job of government is to run a good economy,’’ he said.
‘‘Each and every interest rate rise over the next 12 months is due to the irresponsible spending spree of the Rudd Government.’’
The campaign would be a tough but fair fight, he said.
‘‘You cannot win an election without a fight.’’
The new leader said he couldn’t promise victory but he could promise a ‘‘good, clean contest’’.
‘‘I know my colleagues are gearing up for the fight of their lives.’’
He also took a veiled swipe at Mr Turnbull, whose critics argued was too similar to Labor, especially on climate change policy.
‘‘The job of the Opposition is to be an alternative not an echo,’’ Mr Abbott said.
‘‘To provide a choice not a copy.’’
Mr Abbott said the Coalition would continue to support the emission reduction targets set by the Government.
The Government wants to reduce emissions by a minimum 5 per cent by 2020, with the option of extending it to 25 per cent depending on global outcomes.
‘‘We do want to reduce our emissions and those targets stand,’’ he said.
‘‘We will have a strong and effective climate change policy, it just won’t be this ETS.’’
Mr Abbott refused to rule out advocating a return to some elements of the WorkChoices industrial relations regime.
While conceding that the previous Howard government ‘‘went a little too far’’ with some of its laws, he said there were numerous economic benefits that came out of WorkChoices.
‘‘Now, I’m not going to pre-empt what our policy on this will be, but certainly I think it is very important that we keep a free and flexible economy,’’ Mr Abbott said.
‘‘Let’s not forget what Kevin Rudd has done is not just roll back WorkChoices, Kevin Rudd has rolled back the industrial reforms of the Keating government.
‘‘Kevin Rudd is taking us back to the 1970s, that’s what he’s doing. And I’ll tell you, that won’t happen under us.’’
Mr Abbott has previously described the idea of climate change as ‘‘crap’’, but on Tuesday backed away from that statement.
‘‘It was a bit of hyperbole,’’ he said, adding it was not his considered opinion.
‘‘We will have a strong and effective climate change policy, but one thing we are not going to do is damage Australia’s export industries and put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage.’’
‘‘I think that climate change is real and I think that man does make a contribution,’’ Mr Abbott said, when asked about his views on the issue.
‘‘There is an argument first as to how great that contribution is, and second, over what should be done about it.’’
The essential point was dealing with the mechanism.
‘‘And the last thing we should be rushing through is a great big new tax just so that Kevin Rudd can take a trophy to Copenhagen.’’
Mr Abbott says the new frontbench will be a ‘‘broad church.’’
‘‘We will have some differences ... but the frontbench will represent all shades of opinion inside the Liberal Party.’’
And he wants Joe Hockey to be shadow treasurer.
Mr Abbott said it was crucial the Liberal Party and the Nationals remained as a coalition and provided a unified voice for the conservative side of politics.
‘‘I have always been a very strong supporter of the Coalition,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve always thought that a Liberal is a city-National, and National is a country-Liberal.’’
Mr Abbott said there must be an effective coalition and that he was looking forward to working with Nationals leader Warren Truss.
‘‘The conservative side of politics will not flourish if we do not have a strong and effective coalition.’’