Federal election 2016: Tony Abbott’s true believers in no doubt

Liberals will never know if they could have done better with Tony Abbott, but those at his launch were in no doubt.

Tony Abbott at the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club yesterday as he launches his campaign for Sydney’s northern beaches seat of Warringah. Picture: Adam Yip

It’s the question on the mind of every member of the nervous Coal­­ition: “Had we not dumped Tony Abbott for Malcolm Turnbull, would we be doing much better­ in the polls … or would we be doing a whole lot worse?’’

They will never know the answe­r, but put the same question to the blue-blazer crowd at Abbott­’s campaign launch in Manly yesterday and you’d have been left in no doubt.

“We’d be doing so much better!’’ cried Annie Roberts, who said she’s been voting for Tony “for as long as Tony’s been around’’.

‘‘Much, much, much better,’’ agreed Lindy Jones-Wright, likewise a Liberal supporter since she’s been old enough to cast her vote.

Abbott — the once prime minister who was snapped looking a little forlorn as punters brushed by him on Manly Wharf last week — held his campaign launch at the Queenscliff surf club, on Sydney’s northern beaches, smack in the heart of his electorate.

On one hand, the scene was so Australian it hurt: fireys worked the barbecue as barefoot kids raced by on bicycles. On the other hand, it was impressively presidential, with wall-to-wall placards inside the clubhouse, and crowds of people in Liberal blue T-shirts, chanting ‘‘Tony! Tony! Tony!’’

To the surprise of many who are used to prime ministers who quit after they lose the top job, Abbot­t is campaigning to be Warringah’s local member for the ninth straight time. He made clear on Sky News last night that, if elected, he would serve out a full term. To the disappointment of ‘‘delusional conservatives’’, he also made clear “the party won’t go back’’.

Speaking at Queenscliff, he told the crowd: “We’ve been on a long, long journey. Some of you have been on that journey every step of the way.’’ It’s a journey that he’s not ready to quit just yet, and you could tell, because his speech was just seven minutes long, exactly the right length for a speech that won’t bore people to death. He thanked Margie, his girls, his parents, the local fire brigade, and his supporters. Then it was outside to push onions around the hotplate. He didn’t want to take questions. That’s because he’s wary of being accused of stealing even a sliver of the limelight from the Prime Minister who snatched the top job away from him. Still, we managed to get one in about whether he would have made the Coalition even a tiny bit more ­returnable. He didn’t bite.

“The important thing is that all of us are working to elect Malcolm Turnbull,’’ he told The Australian, adding, ‘‘a Turnbull government is the best choice this election’’.

That got everyone cheering again but only, one suspects, because their first choice, an Abbott government, wasn’t on the cards.