No comeback, but Tony Abbott will keep detractors honest

Yesterday Tony Abbott demonstrated he can command more attention than Bill Shorten, will keep colleagues who want to falsify his record honest, that he is closer philosophically and militarily with Barack Obama than his Australian critics and still represents a swath of Liberal MPs and supporters.

This is not to suggest Abbott is about to mount some sort of comeback or even lead an organised resistance, but the attention he received from Liberals, as well as policy synergy with the President of the US, demonstrates there is a place in the public discourse for a strong conservative voice.

There’s no doubt a former prime minister either in the ministry or sitting on the backbench is a distraction to the prime minister of the day.

Last night Abbott pointedly warned those who should have “let go” of the events of September 14 and his removal he would not allow for any falsification of his record or destruction of his legacy.

He declares he won’t descend into pedantry but he’s not going to allow his achievements — stopping the boats and repealing the carbon and mining taxes — to be trashed.

It’s not something Malcolm Turnbull has attempted, nor does he want to encourage it.

But the message from Abbott is clear: he can distract if he wishes and will not hesitate to do so if he feels he’s been unjustly treated.

Just the clarification that he will not be deciding on his parliamentary future, in an atmosphere where it’s being suggested he should be brought back to the frontbench, until April next year showed how he can act as a lightning rod for conservative dissent.

There was more substance to Abbott’s calculated media appearance yesterday than mere distraction in the way he was able to demonstrate his rhetoric and policy prescriptions about there being a problem within Islam, and the need for SAS boots on the ground in Syria to fight Islamic State, was more in line with Obama than with Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Marise Payne.

This is about conservative voices being heard and Turnbull’s instincts being kept in check rather than Abbott seeking to be on the frontbench after Christmas.