05:57

In a further sign that Tony Abbott is encountering significant difficulties in his attempt to retain his northern Sydney seat of Warringah, not one but two Liberal prime ministers have written to locals on his behalf. Each letter was individually addressed to a particular person, not just a generic “householder”.



The first letter, from John Howard, opened with “Tony Abbott has been a friend of mine for 30 years”, adding that “He was a great health minister in my government, always arguing for the strengthening of Medicare”. In bold type, it goes on to say “There is only one candidate in the Warringah electorate and that’s Tony Abbott”, before finishing with – again all in bold – “Tony Abbott is the person you should support.”



The second letter, from Scott Morrison, warns that “The danger of a protest vote in Warringah is that it could lead to a Shorten government”. Though lacking the bold type of Howard’s letter, Morrison’s does underline one sentence: “The only way to avoid a Shorten government and its higher taxes is to vote Liberal.”

The prime minister does, however, assure locals that he feels their pain. “I understand that many people in Warringah have strong opinions about your local MP, Tony Abbott,” he writes, before finishing with “Only by reelecting Tony Abbott in Warringah can you ensure our government can continue to get on with the job of building our economy to secure our future.”



We won’t know until 18 May if this has had the required effect. One person pre-polling in Manly was overheard asking those handing out how-to-votes how he could “vote for the Liberals, but not vote for Tony Abbott”.

A very Warringah conundrum.

