Cabinet ministers quiet on Tony Abbott’s latest criticisms

Two senior cabinet ministers have refused to chastise Tony Abbott, revealing growing internal frustration

Former PM Tony Abbott in parliament last month.

Two senior cabinet ministers have refused to chastise Tony Abbott over his latest criticism of the government, revealing growing internal frustration within the Coalition partyroom over a lack of direction under Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership.

Several senior Liberal MPs have also told The Australian they “could not disagree” with the former prime minister’s ­assessment yesterday, after he repeated the five-point plan he revealed in February, suggesting that unless the government started to “deliver” on core policy and dump others it would lose the next election.

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In a noticeable shift in language since the public dressing down of Mr Abbott by senior ministers in February, Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo yesterday backed Mr ­Abbott’s right to speak as a backbencher.

Southern Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly also ­defended Mr Abbott, who said the Coalition should stick with Mr Turnbull for fear of repeating Labor’s Rudd/Gillard/Rudd ­disaster.

Mr Kelly refused to be drawn on whether the Coalition would have fared better at the last election under Mr Abbott or whether it had been a mistake to change leaders.

Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson said he believed Mr Abbott was free as a back­bencher to argue ideas as long as did so “judiciously”.

On the other hand, Queensland Liberal Warren Entsch yesterday called on Mr Abbott to quit, labelling him a “wrecker” who was waging “jihad” against Mr Turnbull.

Mr Entsch told Fairfax Media that Mr Abbott’s “nonsense” was driving voters into the arms of minor parties and independents.

Mr Abbott took to the airwaves on Sydney broadcaster Ray Hadley’s 2GB radio program for the first time as a regular commentator — replacing Scott Morrison, who was dumped spectacularly last week.

Mr Abbott revealed he ­recently had a “very blunt conversation” with Mathias Cormann, after the Finance Minister ­attacked him during a Sky News interview. He revealed details of a “man to man” talk with Senator Cormann.

In February Senator Cormann, who supported Mr Abbott in the 2015 leadership spill, said he was “saddened” by Mr ­Abbott’s “self-indulgent” and “destructive” commentary when the former prime minister ­released his “five-point plan”.

He also pointed out that the ­policies Mr Abbott was now ­criticising, such as the government’s Renewable Energy ­Target, were established under his leadership.

“Mathias and I had a man-to-man talk, you might say, about that particular outburst of his,” Mr Abbott told Hadley.

The Prime Minister’s office would not be drawn on Mr ­Abbott’s comments, signalling a strategy of refusing to engage in fuelling internal conflict.

Mr Ciobo backed Mr Abbott, claiming “every backbencher” was welcome to raise policy ideas. Pressed on the fact that Mr Abbott was a former prime minister, and not merely a backbencher, Mr Ciobo said he did not get overly concerned about “interventions of former prime ministers or backbenchers or others”.

In his latest incursion, in a column published in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, Mr Abbott said Australians were “fed up with underperforming governments and pointscoring”.

Mr Abbott’s five points were: Senate reform; ending subsidies for renewable energy; defunding the Human Rights Commission, “a nanny-state bureaucracy which persecutes journalists but does nothing about Muslim extremists”; protecting existing employees but making it easier for future generations to get work; and celebrating, rather than apologising for Australia.

Mr Abbott said although there was little enthusiasm for Bill Shorten, on the grounds that “oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them” people expected the Labor leader could soon be in The Lodge.

“In fact, the best way to keep Shorten out is not to sack an elected prime minister yet again but to ensure that the government does its job better,” he said.

Senator Paterson said while Mr Abbott was free as a backbencher to make his ideas known as often as he liked, as a former prime minister, his ideas might generate “a bit more attention” than those of other backbenchers.

“With that extra power, I guess, comes extra responsibility to exercise it carefully and reasonably and judiciously, and I’m sure he’s very mindful of that, but I don’t have a problem with any member of the backbench, even a former prime minister, being out there arguing for the things they believe in,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.

When asked about Mr Abbott’s public commentary, Mr Chester refused to criticise the former prime minister, and said the best way to keep Mr Shorten out of The Lodge was to be a good government.