Stand by your leader, John Howard tells Liberals

John Howard has issued a rallying call to party members to offer Scott Morrison ‘100 per cent support’ ahead of the election.

John Howard and Scott Morrison at the opening of the Howard Library at Old Parliament House in Canberra yesterday, Picture: AAP

Liberal statesman John Howard has issued a rallying call to party members to offer Scott Morrison “100 per cent support” ahead of the election, saying unity is “crucial”.

After a tumultuous couple of weeks for the Prime Minister, Mr Howard offered a staunch ­endorsement of the Morrison government and sent a message to the Liberal partyroom to get behind their leader.

“What Scott is doing, the leadership he’s providing, I think it’s what is needed at the moment and, plainly, giving him 100 per cent support is crucial to our prospects of winning,” Mr Howard told The Australian after opening the Howard Library at Old Parliament House.

“(Mr Morrison’s) got off to an excellent start. It’s not easy, I think we all know and understand that and don’t need to go into any detail of it, but I think he’s got a lot of ­energy and he’s got a willingness to tackle and solve problems, and they are two absolutely fundamental requirements for the job.

Meet the Howards: Ellen, baby Winston, Richard, Janette, John, Melanie and Angus yesterday.

“You have got to tackle problems and solve them, and not think they’ll just go away through ­neglect.”

The former prime minister ­declared the Coalition would win the election on the strength of the economy and “unchallengeable credentials” on border and nat­ional security, accusing Labor of “wobbling” over the new encryption laws.

Surrounded by his family, including wife Janette and six-week-old grandson Winston, Mr Howard said the library had plenty of things he liked but also a number of items that were at the very least “mildly critical” of his government.

Personal papers and official records from Mr Howard’s political career take up 150m of shelf space, while the library will also exhibit the prime minister’s desk, APEC costumes, advertising from both sides of politics, gifts from world leaders and his famous green and gold tracksuit.

Mr Howard refused to comment on Malcolm Turnbull’s intervention in Craig Kelly’s preselection battle or insistence the Coalition go to an early election to save the NSW government. But he confirmed he received a phone call from Mr Morrison “a short while before” a partyroom meeting that adopted new rules requiring a vote of two-thirds of Liberal MPs to roll any leader in office. “He was gracious enough to consult,” Mr Howard said.