Tony Abbott rejects government wrecker claim

Tony Abbott has sent assurances to Liberal MPs worried that the election campaign will be derailed by disunity.

Tony Abbott during question time this week.

Amid mounting alarm in the Liberal Party about Tony Abbott’s aggressiv­e defence of his legacy, the former prime minister has sent a message of assurance to Liberal MPs and supporters worried that the government’s election campaign will be derailed by disunity.

His message came before a warning yesterday by Malcolm Turnbull that he would “set the record­ straight” when he believed Mr Abbott had misconstrued the facts — a clear sign that the Prime Minister is prepared to contest the Abbott legacy campaign.

The Abbott message is as follows: “I intend to defend the legacy­ of the Abbott government and, as a former prime minister, I will speak out in defending that legacy.

“I will speak in the partyroom on issues where members have a right to put their views.

“However, plainly, I believe that there is a vital obligation upon us as Liberals to win the coming election campaign. Whatever might be my concerns about the Turnbull government, they pale in comparison with the prospect of a Shorten Labor government.”

The meaning is obvious. Mr Abbott will be disciplined during the campaign. He will not sabo­tage the Turnbull government campaign.

It is a critical assurance. It comes at the end of a week when Coalition MPs have become alarmed that policy issues are ­dividing along Turnbull-Abbott lines. Several Liberals privatel­y say the party must avoid any repeat of Labor’s 2010 election campaign, when open tension between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd was a key factor in Labor losing­ majority government.

Concern within the Coalition followed Mr Abbott’s 4000-word defence of his economic record, his partyroom intervention calling for more spending restraint and leaving negative gearing alone, and his frontal attack on the Turnbull government’s defence white paper on the grounds that it was delaying the start date for the ­introduction of new submarines from Mr Abbott’s preference as prime minister.

Mr Turnbull said yesterday that the high-profile backbencher was entitled to “speak his mind” but he needed to exercise “his own judgment about his comments”.

“He made some remarks during the week about submarines which were commented on, and in fact contradicted, by the Chief of the Defence Force and the secretary of the Defence Department,” Mr Turnbull said on the NSW central coast.

“The simple reality is this: the expert advice to the Australian government on the submarine program and as to its timing has been consistent since 2013 — you take the word of Dennis Richardson, the secretary of the Defence Department, you take the word of the Chief of the Defence Force — so that is a fact.

“I respect Tony’s right to speak his mind and he should continue to do so, but it’s very important that, as Prime Minister, I set the record straight.”

Mr Abbott’s sister Christine Forster on Sky News last night dismissed the possibility of a second Abbott prime ministership.

“He doesn’t think there’s any chance, surely, that the party will go back to him,’’ she said.

“Why would he? You know, he’s a very intelligent man ... I don’t think we’d be stupid enough to make the mistake that they (Labor) did when they reinstated Rudd, to go back to the future.’’

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann earlier insisted that Mr ­Abbott’s destabilisation of Mr Turnbull’s leadership had not reached Kevin Rudd-style propor­tions “at this stage”, although­ “some issues” remain unresolved following last year’s Liberal leadership crisis.

Mr Abbott told The Australian this week he was “flabbergasted” by an apparent decision by the new Liberal leadership to delay the operation of the next-­generation submarine fleet, ­angering Liberals. Some MPs ­accused Mr Abbott of a “full-frontal’’ assault on the Prime Minister.

Mr Turnbull told parliament the Australian Federal Police were investigating the leaking of documents from the Abbott-era draft white paper to The ­Australian.

Senator Cormann, the deputy leader of the government in the Senate, said he accepted Mr ­Abbott’s word that he was not responsibl­e for an “incredibly reckless” and “absolutely deplorable” leak of sensitive national ­security information. “I would have preferred if Tony had chosen not to comment publicly, but he has,” Senator Cormann told Sky.

“We are where we are; we move on. Tony Abbott is no Kevin Rudd, so you don’t see the same (destabilisation) at this stage. I don’t expect that we would ever be like the Labor Party; we are a very united team.

“Yes, I mean, obviously there are some issues that are still being worked through in the wake of the leadership transition … but to compare it with the battles between­ Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd would not be right.”

Bill Shorten seized on “division and dysfunction’’ in a government that was “at war with itself’’.

“We see leaks from the highest security cabinet committee of the government; we see Liberals calling the police in to investigate Liberals,” the Opposition Leader said.

“We see great division and ­dysfunction at the heart of the government.”

Frontbencher Christopher Pyne said only a “handful of people­” had access to the draft defenc­e white paper, but he “would not immediately assume” that Mr ­Abbott was the leaker.