Regardless of intent, it conveyed an absence of grace which not only reflected poorly on Team-Abbott, but seemed at odds with Abbott's own more honourable style. Will Tony Abbott quit Parliament or retire to the backbench in dignified silence. Or will he cause problems for Malcom Turnbull? Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Abbott's departure should have been marked by the dignity of a swift exit, not a sullen vacuum. When it did come, the concession contained no mention of Turnbull, no magnanimity towards the victor, and no real responsibility for his own leadership failings. In their place was a manifest anger, rent with the faults of everyone from the leakers in his party room to the media who reported them. Anyone in fact, but the people running the show itself.

"We stayed focused despite the white-anting," he proclaimed. Eric Abetz departed the partyroom meeting by Tony Abbott's side after Abbott lost the leadership ballot. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Abbott reserved his most Shakespearean language for journalists slating their creation of "poll-drive panic" which he says fostered a "febrile media culture" that rewarded treachery. "Refuse to print self-serving claims that the person making them won't put his or her name to," he pleaded. "Refuse to connive at dishonour by acting as the assassin's knife," he continued, blithely ignoring his own office's widely remarked partnership with certain docile media outlets. Politics is a bruising, unforgiving business, requiring all (and more) from the individuals tough enough to climb to the top. It is entirely understandable that Abbott and his dedicated team are feeling the pain and grief of rejection.

But Abbott has always been the quintessential Liberal loyalist. As the outgoing prime minister, his last obligation was to protect the country, to address the people for whom he served, and publicly acknowledge the gravity of events that have seen him forced to surrender his commission. Abbott's departure should have been be marked by the dignity of a swift exit, not a sullen vacuum. Beyond that, the pre-eminent question hanging over the new Turnbull administration, given what the nation went through when Kevin Rudd white-anted Julia Gillard post-coup, is what will Abbott do now? Will he quit Parliament causing a byelection or retire to the backbench to see out this term in dignified silence? Or will he cause problems for those he clearly sees as having betrayed him? He says not, but what about his supporters - mostly on the party's conservative right wing? Insiders say the right is now functionally split. There are those who are conservative by preference and yet economy-minded, determinedly pluralist, and occasionally progressive on issues. These are "traditional" big "L" Liberals in the Menzian vein.

Then there are the authoritarian reactionaries - a new and uncompromising form of evangelical Christians with a Tea Party-style dedication to political combat and a loathing for moderate liberal permissiveness. For these hardliners, the Liberal Party brand has only ever been a vehicle, a means to a conservative end. They hate good and they hate no-one more than those whom they see as the dissemblers and soft liberals within their own ranks. For now, they have been set back. But in the medium term, they have a new cause, a new enemy personified, and perhaps even, a new martyr. Follow us on Twitter