As record numbers of people vote early so they can tune out of a largely lethargic and dispiriting election campaign, it’s noteworthy that Australia’s most famous backbencher Tony Abbott still arouses such strong reactions — negative and positive.
For all the perception of Abbott as a gaffe-prone, onion munching, three-word sloganeer, there is a large section of discourse dedicated to Abbott as a man of ideas and action, who does good work — something even his critics tend to admire about him — in his local community and who has made a huge contribution as a conservative thinker.
An “effective and ‘can do’ minister”
In David Marr’s Quarterly Essay on Tony Abbott, ‘Political Animal’ — which by no means shies away from criticism — Abbott’s time as health minister is described in terms that contrast with his public image as an inveterate brawler. He’s presented as an open, thoughtful, and relatively assiduous minister, polite and well-liked (if not always completely understood) by bureaucrats and stakeholders.
‘He wasn’t ruthless,’ said an observer of his time of his time in the portfolio. ‘He didn’t have an appetite for nasties … people find it amazing but he doesn’t seek conflict.’
“He was a godsend to the Howard government,” former Liberal senator Nick Minchin told Crikey. “An incredibly effective and ‘can-do’ minister.”
Marr’s essay quotes former communications minister Helen Coonan about Abbott’s contributions to the Howard government:
Right at the end of the discussion he’d say ‘A thought, can I offer a thought, Prime Minister?’ And they were not bad thoughts. He’s somebody who is capable of thinking outside the square. And it was very Jesuitical, of course. I think he was true to his upbringing, his roots, his values.
Personal v political
‘Political Animal’ goes into great depth on the struggle between “politics Abbott” and “value Abbott” — “politics Abbott” knows curtailing abortion rights in Australia isn’t practical, but “values Abbott” can’t help but mention it might be good if it were.
For all Abbott’s reputation as the “mad monk”, director of policy at the Institute of Public Affairs Gideon Rozner told Crikey that the majority of Abbott’s policy positions as prime minister don’t spring from Catholic social conservatism.
“His personal statements are often conflated with policy positions,” he said. “But broadly, he pushed for centre-right reform.”
Abbott the conservative thinker
Damien Freeman’s book Abbott’s Right argues that, far from cynical sloganeering, Abbott’s politics are part of a longstanding, distinctly Australian brand of conservative thought following on from Robert Menzies and John Howard. In particular, Freeman casts Abbott as a conservative in the tradition of Edmund Burke.
Freeman cites Abbott’s use of the phrase “intergenerational theft” after becoming prime minister as an example:
He takes the ‘ultimate unfairness’ to be ‘saddling our children and grandchildren with debt so that an irresponsible government will continue buying votes with dollars it doesn’t have’ … It would be difficult to find a more Burkean basis for economic planning. Burke gives us the idea of society as a trust between past, present and future generations.
Freeman told Crikey Abbott’s speech before his first budget as prime minister reveals his considered approach to economics. “He had an understanding that economic policy wasn’t an end in itself, but a means to social policy,” he said.
Nick Minchin is an unusually influential figure on Abbott’s career, leading the rebellion that would deliver Abbott the Liberal party leadership. “[Abbott’s] a convictions politician, he really believes that politics is a calling,” Minchin told Crikey. “He’s not about his ego. People don’t believe this, but when challenged for the leadership, it was honestly solely about the policy, not him. Both he and I begged Malcolm [Turnbull] to change his position.”
“What’s often forgotten is just how intelligent and well-educated he is,” Minchin said. “He’s a Rhodes Scholar, a gifted communicator, and his writing is some of the best in Australian politics. I envy him that.”
What might have been?
For his supporters, there is a great “what might have been?” surrounding his prime ministership. If he had better messaging, if he’d had a more united party, would he have been a more successful or long serving prime minister?
“In the book Battlegrounds, Peter van Onselen and Wayne Errington try to just demolish Abbott, but even they admit that the most successful prime ministers only came into their own in their second term,” Freeman said. “So it’s hard to assess — he was committed to making some tough calls, to doing some real nation-building. But he didn’t get the opportunity.”
“One thing I would counsel new members of parliament about was that they shouldn’t expect to quickly change everything — it’s a place of incremental change,” Minchin said. “And, of course, Tony is a conservative, like me. We favour gradual and considered change anyway.”
Rozner said he believed Abbott, had he not been rolled, would have campaigned better than Malcolm Turnbull and won the 2016 election more comfortably, giving himself a reinforced authority. Rozner also points out the lingering influence of Turnbull, the Liberal leader Abbott replaced.
“If Andrew Peacock had hung around like a bad smell, people might remember John Howard very differently,” Rozner said. “It took a long time for people to really love Howard, he wasn’t always the popular figure he is now.”
His admirers admit there were serious mistakes along the way — particularly “knights and dames” and the formulation of the marriage equality plebiscite. In a piece arguing Warringah and Australia would be worse off if Abbott loses, his old friend and great defender Greg Sheridan quoted Burke’s maxim to the effect that an elected official owes their constituents their best judgement, not their obedience. On this policy Abbott provided neither; his policy was to outsource the decision to the electorate, and then to ignore it by abstaining from the vote. Rozner and Freeman both agree, for different reasons, the plebiscite was a mistake — though Freeman defends it as a political necessity.
What now?
Now, particularly after his admission he would lead the party again “if asked”, the question lingers: if Abbott holds his seat this election, what is his role in the Liberal Party going forward?
“He’s a standard bearer and a great advocate for the conservative end of the Liberal Party, which needs a balance between conservative and moderate thinking,” Minchin says. “So I hope he’s reelected and continues to lead that tradition.”
Whether a re-elected Abbott could assume such a role, Freeman said, depended on the Liberal Party’s willingness to have a serious conversation about “what kind of party it really is and can be”.
“I don’t know if the party is up for that conversation.”
Charlie Lewis is reporting from our special Warringah bureau for the length of the election campaign. Follow his coverage here.
Seriously, how can you think about Abbott’s ideological chops without mentioning his mentor, Bob Santamaria, one of the nastiest, craziest pieces of filth this country has endured?
So rare to read anyone who takes the time to review former PM Abbott in anything other than hateful or dismissive tones….welcome addition to the discussion.
Satire I presume! Ha,ha, indeed!
But just take a moment to consider who offered the favourable reviews.
Wow! Director of policy at the Institute of Public Affairs, Gideon Rozner, climate change denialist Nick Minchin and Peter van Onselen love Tony Abbott and this piece is a love letter to the poor misunderstood boofhead. I would not buy a used car from any of them. Can we look forward to a Charlie Lewis article about how loveable Peter Dutton is? Maybe Fraser Anning can tell some side-splitting stories about the day the Minister for Home Affairs helped an old lady into the van and Craig Kelly can chime in with a story about his mate trying to save Queensland millions of dollars replacing “The Sunshine State” on number plates? Spare us, Charlie. We’ve had experience of the actual Tony Abbott while you, Gideon, Nick and Peter were perhaps living on an island far away.
Maybe Fraser Anning can tell some side-splitting stories about the day the Minister for Home Affairs helped an old lady into the van and Craig Kelly can chime in with a story about his mate trying to save Queensland millions of dollars replacing “The Sunshine State” on number plates?
Lols!
Newscorp have already given us a heart-warming account from Dutton’s wife of how loveable he is. I vaguely remember most of the big Nazi’s on trial at Nuremberg were also described as wonderful family men.
Political acumen is obviously in the eye of the beholder. My eyes see in Abbott the individual that has done more harm to Australian democracy than any other individual in my 63 years on this planet. I loathe his overt politics and that way in which he has corrupted any political vision in parliament. The sooner he is gone, the better and these right wing homilies attempting to resurrect some imagined positive political legacy for Abbott I find offensive.
John Howard has changed the face of Australia for the worse. Tony is a “pretender” to that throne.
Howard has seriously damaged this country and we are unlikely to ever recover from his neo-con BS.
Just like what is going on behind Trump in the US.
What a great load of crap; Abbott is a mean spirited bludger that has never done a days real work in his miserab.le life, typical of the redneck neo cons now running the liberal party and his only admirers are the cowardly and cowed serf media types that currently call themselves journalist, its no wonder that the print and T.V media is dying a slow death with their slavish obedience to the murdoch clans dogma that`s condemning them and their profession to oblivion.