Tony Abbott promises 'no wrecking, no undermining' in final speech as prime minister

Updated

Outgoing prime minister Tony Abbott has blamed a poll-driven febrile media culture, a "sour, bitter character assassination" and white-anting for his demise.

Key points: Tony Abbott addresses the media with his final speech

Blames poll-driven media culture for demise

Advises the media not to print "self-serving claims"

Pledges to make the leadership change an easy one

Says there will be "no wrecking" and "no undermining"



More than 12 hours after being toppled by Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Abbott has addressed the media with a short statement in the Prime Minister's official courtyard.

He did not take any questions.

"This is not an easy day for many people in this building," he told a large group of assembled reporters.

"Leadership changes are never easy for our country.

"My pledge today is to make this change as easy as I can.

"There will be no wrecking, no undermining, and no sniping.

"I've never leaked or backgrounded against anyone. And I certainly won't start now.

"This is a tough day, but when you join the game, you accept the rules.

"Being the Prime Minister is not an end in itself; it's about the people you serve."

Mr Turnbull's leadership challenge was preceded by a string of speculative reports about Mr Abbott's future.

"I am proud of what the Abbott Government has achieved. We stayed focused despite the white-anting," Mr Abbott said.

"The nature of politics has changed in the past decade.

"A febrile media culture has developed that rewards treachery."

Mr Abbott warned the poll-driven approach had produced a "revolving door Prime Ministership".

The outgoing leader of the Government did not directly address the question of his own future in politics.

The seating arrangement for the House of Representatives has been altered and he has been moved into a place on the backbench.

"If there's one piece of advice I can give to the media, it's this: refuse to print self-serving claims that the person making them won't put his or her name to," Mr Abbott said.

"Refuse to connive at dishonour by acting as the assassin's knife."

Step through the chart to assess how public perceptions of each PM changed over time as measured by Newspoll's net satisfaction rating.

This article includes an interactive component which is not supported on this platform. For the full interactive experience in this article, you will need a modern web browser with JavaScript enabled. Find out more about browser support at ABC News Online.

Note: John Howard's prime ministership continued well beyond the approximately 1,500 days shown here; he served 4,284 days as PM.

Abbott says so much more work still to come

Tony Abbott also used his final media conference as Prime Minister to highlight the Government's economic and policy achievements.

Mr Abbott singled out the clinching of Free Trade Agreements with China, Japan and South Korea as key achievements of his time in office.

As expected, he also focused on the dismantling of Labor's carbon and mining taxes.

"I'm proud of what we've achieved over the past two years," Mr Abbott said.

"300,000 more people are in jobs. Labor's bad taxes are gone."

"The biggest infrastructure program in our country's history is underway."

Tony Abbott controversially set up a royal commission into trade union corruption, which Labor characterised as a "witch hunt".

But he has defended the Government's decision to invest in the inquiry.

"A spotlight is being shone into the dark and corrupt corners of the union movement and Labor's party union business model," he said.

Mr Abbott focused on the policy change that stopped asylum seeker boats reaching Australia, as well as the decision to allow more refugees to resettle in Australia.

He also lamented those plans that were yet to be fulfilled.

"Constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, getting the kids to school, the adults to work and communities safe," he said.

"I was the first prime minister to spend a week a year in remote Indigenous Australia. And I hope I'm not the last.

"Then there's the challenge of ice and domestic violence, yet to be addressed.

"Australia has a role to play in the struggles of the wider world. The cauldron of the Middle East. And security in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

"I fear that none of this will be helped if the leadership instability that's plagued other countries continues to taint us. But yes, I am proud of what the Abbott Government has achieved."

Howard pays tribute

Following the speech, former prime minister John Howard paid tribute to Mr Abbott, lauding his achievements in just under two years.

"He achieved, along with Scott Morrison, a turnaround in relation to border protection policy that I didn't really think would be possible," Mr Howard said.

He said Mr Abbott should also be remembered as a "Liberal Party pantheon" for the 2010 election result.

"He killed off a first-term Labor government," Mr Howard said.

"It may have taken another three years for it to be buried and cremated, but it was killed off at the 2010 election.

"No one else in the Liberal Party could have achieved it.

"Liberals should be profoundly grateful and indebted."

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, turnbull-malcolm, abbott-tony, political-parties, canberra-2600

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