'The truth is people aren't happy': Abbott offers Turnbull advice again
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has issued another broadside at his party, saying voters had grown tired of self-serving politicians while calling on the cabinet to consider his five-point plan for the country.
Just two months after being attacked by senior coalition figures for publicly criticising the government's direction, Mr Abbott re-emerged on Monday with a new five-point plan to reconnect with the electorate.
Outlining his plan in News Corp newspapers and on radio, Mr Abbott said voters were more disillusioned than ever with politicians.
"The truth is people aren't happy," he told 2GB's Ray Hadley.
Tony Abbott has issued another call to arms to the get the government back on track. Source: AAP
"They're sick of governments that don't deliver, they're sick of oppositions that play politics, they're sick of minor parties that are all grievance and no solution and they want all of us to lift our game."
That's the message Mr Abbott says he received loud and clear after taking the "pulse" of hundreds of voters he met during the recent eight-day Pollie Pedal fundraising event in regional Australia.
Mr Abbott's latest call to arms comes after 10 bad opinion poll results for Malcolm Turnbull, who ousted Mr Abbott as prime minister in September 2015 after voters turned against him.
But he's warning his colleagues against governments dumping prime ministers who are struggling in the polls.
"The best way to keep (Opposition Leader Bill) Shorten out is not to sack an elected prime minister yet again but to ensure that the government does its job better," the now backbencher wrote.
Mr Abbott said there was an expectation that Mr Shorten could soon be in The Lodge even though voters blamed Labor as much as the government for certain problems.
Tony Abbott's one-two jab started with an opinion piece followed by an appearance on Ray Hadley's 2GB radio show. Source: AAP
"What I am saying is what we need is good government and generally speaking you don't get good government by having a revolving-door prime ministership," he told 2GB.
Mr Abbott's latest intervention in the running of the Turnbull government is unlikely to be rewarded.
Tony Abbott's five-plan for Australia:
Reform the Senate to prevent government gridlock;
* dump wind-power subsidies to take pressure of power price;
* defund "nanny state" bureaucracies;
* protecting existing benefits for employees, but make it easier for future generations to get work;
* being proud of Australia.
In February, Mr Turnbull and senior ministers branded Mr Abbott as "sad" after he used a Sky News interview and a speech to launch a scathing critique of the government's direction, saying it had become "Labor lite".
The former prime minister wants Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison to listen to his advice. Source: AAP
Cabinet minister Darren Chester said the coalition was already focused on being a good government to keep Labor out of office.
"We've got to work together as Liberal and National Party MPs and ministers who are passionate about Australia's future and deliver everything we said we'd do - that's what people expect of their governments," he told ABC radio on Monday.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said it was "stating the obvious" to say politicians were unpopular and he wasn't "overly concerned" with Mr Abbott's opinions.
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Many government colleagues shot Mr Abbott down by Monday morning. Source: AAP
Mr Abbott said he also had a blunt "man-to-man" talk with Mathias Cormann after the finance minister publicly attacked him for lashing out at the Turnbull government.
Mr Abbott earned a stern rebuke from Senator Cormann in February over his scathing critique of the coalition government's direction, but Mr Abbott didn't take it lying down.
Mathias and I had a man-to-man talk you might say about that particular outburst of his," Mr Abbott told 2GB's Ray Hadley on Monday.
"We had a very blunt conversation about it. If you don't like what someone is doing, rather than speak out publicly at least in the first instance you should have a man-to-man discussion."
The former prime minister said he listened to the public's criticism while riding his bike around Australia. Source: AAP
Mr Abbott said while he believed Senator Cormann was doing a good job, he had reminded him that as a former prime minister it was his prerogative to speak out on national and international issues "where I think it's for the good of the country and for the good of the party".
The stoush between the two Liberal heavyweights was sparked in February when Mr Abbott used a TV interview to accuse the coalition of becoming "Labor-lite", saying politics should not be "just a contest of toxic egos or someone's vanity project".
Senator Cormann, a former staunch supporter of Mr Abbott as prime minister until he was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull in 2015, publicly blasted the now backbencher for providing "more and more destructive commentary".
"He is not helping our cause, he is not helping our country, he is not helping himself," Senator Cormann said.
