Former prime minister Tony Abbott has given a wide ranging interview in which he offered Malcolm Turnbull heaps of free advice, gave his thoughts on the US election and strongly hinted he wants to return to cabinet.
The former PM spoke to Sky News on Sunday morning, saying the US election was the "revenge of the deplorables", and accused Australian politicians (*cough* Turnbull *cough*) of ignoring voters.
"There's a real insiders/outsiders factor at work in the United States," he told Sunday Agenda. "Frankly, I think something like that is at work in Australia."
"People are sick of being labelled racist just because they worry about social cohesion. People are sick of being called deniers because they're concerned about power prices. They're sick of being called islamophobes because they're anxious about terrorism. People want to be taken seriously," he said.
The former PM said the last thing he wants to do is offer public advice to Turnbull, before going on to do just that.
.@TonyAbbottMHR says 'if we don't get debt deficit down ... we'll be ripping off our children' #agenda #auspol https://t.co/tp6G0uGGpC
Abbott, who has strongly pushed for reform of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, said politicians are guilty of ignoring issues that matter to voters.
He urged Turnbull to return to the issues that proved so successful for his government - debt and deficit, and rising electricity prices.
Abbott said the Turnbull government had failed to take the fight to the opposition, saying the government has to "sharpen the differences, not minimise them", and praised Turnbull for talking less about innovation and agility, "because, quite frankly, that loses people".
'If we lack a strong centre-right party we will get people on the fringes coming to the fore,' @TonyAbbottMHR said. https://t.co/GBH8qQRJDh
The former PM also gave his strongest hint yet that wants to return to the cabinet, saying he would be able to work with Turnbull despite their differences, which go back decades.
“You don’t have to idolise someone to be able to work with them. Peter Costello and John Howard sometimes had difficult moments, but they worked very effectively together,” he said.
“I guess it’s an issue for [Turnbull] whether I am or am not one of the 23 members of the party room most qualified to be in cabinet.”
Abbott acknowledged that his government had made several mistakes while in office, pointing to the abolition of the debt ceiling and failure to work with the difficult senate crossbench as examples.
He also gave a thinly veiled warning to Turnbull, suggesting any move to drop the coalition's policy of a plebiscite on same-sex marriage would be a betrayal of voters.
Speaking on same-sex marriage @TonyAbbottMHR says 'why not go to the people?' #agenda #auspol https://t.co/4CI1kwoXVe
When asked if Turnbull was doing a good job as prime minister, Abbott said "there's a sense of prime ministers and governments always needing to do more", but said the passing of the government's ABCC bill this week would bookend a successful year for the government.
.@TonyAbbottMHR says it's important to pass the ABCC bill 'but it is only one part of a wider bigger narrative'. https://t.co/KXO2qgZRSz