Niki Savva’s Road to Ruin: politics is now unsourced gossip

I always thought a dignified ­silence was the best way to deal with Niki Savva’s attacks. They were personal, invariably founded on unsourced gossip and rarely made any attempt at balance.

I have always just got on with the job. I felt my 16 years of service to four Howard cabinet ministers and time in opposition, including as deputy chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull, said more about my ­record than any bile from Savva but she was never interested in the facts.

Then, like now, she hasn’t ever wanted to speak with me — including in preparation for her book. Her colleagues in the Canberra press gallery would often ask me what I had done to warrant her attacks. People were often taken aback when I responded that I barely knew her.

It is one of the golden rules of journalistic ethics to provide a right of reply to anyone you’re going to criticise. In the end, journalists are supposed to weigh up the contributions and seek their own truth, but to not want to hear the other side of the story is extraordinary.

Her book Road to Ruin is billed as “explaining” why the man elected by the Australian people as their prime minister was removed from office. Yet we all know that’s a farce. The book is an attempt to justify the coup. That’s clearly evidenced by her refusal to speak with me or Tony Abbott. This is only one side of the story and in time, the other side should be told.

Sadly it seems that modern politics is gossip from unnamed sources. Stories about personalities and the Canberra insider view are much easier to pull together than detailed analysis of a government’s recent policy, or lack of it.

What our media doesn’t appreciate is that Australians are sick of their elected leaders, and by extension the media, being obsessed with themselves. They want to see politicians focused on the things they have elected them to do so that they can get on with their lives and raise their families with confidence, knowing that their jobs are secure and their country safe.

When I was working long days in the prime minister’s office, doing my part to stop the boats, repeal the carbon tax and respond to growing terrorism threats, did anyone in the real world care that I was a tough operator, that the prime minister expected results or wanted ministers under pressure to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and deliver on our election promises? After all, that’s why they got rid of Labor — to get a government focused on them and the things they cared about.

I am proud of the Abbott office and the extraordinary people I worked alongside. We worked together to take Labor to a draw in 2010 and helped to win government in 2013. By the time he was summarily removed from office, the majority of Abbott’s staff had worked for him for more than six years, including me. That’s not a sign of dysfunction: staff don’t stay and opposition leaders don’t become prime ministers if they don’t have a good team.

I’ve never claimed that I got it right every time, but you don’t survive 16 years in one of the toughest working environments around if you’re not up to the job or don’t have a good reputation.

I accept that much of this post-leadership critique is politically motivated and driven by warring Liberal Party camps. Although Savva’s husband works for Turnbull, I don’t believe this attack would have the Prime Minister’s support.

I come from an ordinary country background where my dad never finished school and worked hard in small business all his life before he died too early. My parents believed in honesty, hard work and education.

Like them, I also believe that if you work hard you should be able to get ahead, and that your gender should be irrelevant. I know I am not the first woman to face offensive and false rumours about the nature of her professional relationships but, sadly, I doubt I will be the last.

I only hope this doesn’t put off smart women from joining the political fray because without our voices out there, it is hard to influence debate. I did my best to serve the party I believe in, and the people and country I love.

Having watched at close quarters the extraordinary way that Labor ripped itself apart during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, I am dismayed that my own side is heading down the same path.

As I said, the Australian people are sick of governments that aren’t focused on them, and in an election year they will ruthlessly punish infighting and paralysis.

We are better than this.

I will always be proud to have worked for Abbott, a decent man who has only ever wanted to be in politics to make a great country even better.

Peta Credlin is a lawyer and was chief of staff to former prime minister Tony Abbott. She also worked for four cabinet ministers and three opposition leaders.