It's bad news for Tony Abbott and Matt Canavan. Credit:Andrew Meares "He made it quite clear when he left office that he would not be a Kevin Rudd, that he would not provide a running commentary, he would positively contribute. He was very specific when he said that – and most of us believed him. "But what he's doing now is reinforcing all the negative aspects of his time. And if it continues like this, this will be his legacy – and he won't be remembered fondly. He'll just be seen as a wrecker, hellbent on destroying an individual." Opinion is divided among Coalition MPs as to whether Mr Abbott is seeking to reclaim the prime ministership or is simply intent on damaging Mr Turnbull. But Mr Entsch said Ms Gillard provided the model of how a dignified former prime minister should behave. He also said Mr Abbott did positive things during his time as leader and could contribute more – but not as an MP. The backbencher also pointed out that much of the advice Mr Abbott now offers he failed to follow himself.

Mr Entsch, pictured with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, supports a free vote on same-sex marriage Credit:Andrew Meares "Now for him to have what appears to be a vendetta against Malcolm Turnbull, you have got to ask the question: where is the national interest in all this?



"And you wonder why we see people moving towards minor parties and independents, when they see this sort of nonsense going on? At the end of the day people are saying, well it's a pox on both the major parties." The leadership spill that ended his prime ministership was driven by the backbench and not orchestrated by Mr Turnbull, he added: "Somebody had to be a leader. Malcolm was prepared to stand up and do it but Malcolm had nothing to do with Tony losing his prime ministership – Tony did that himself." Senator James Paterson probably thinks his colleagues can't handle basic admin either. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Fairfax Media contacted nearly two dozen Coalition MPs on Monday to canvass their views on Mr Abbott's motivation and future, however even members of the former prime minister's rival moderate faction were loathe to publicly condemn him.

Jason Falinski, whose seat is also on Sydney's north shore, said Mr Abbott had "solid" ideas. "He's right to point out that it's become very difficult to govern in Australia," he said. "There's no pressure from his community to go. That's got to be a decision for Tony and his family." The fresh outburst prompted former Liberal leader John Hewson to say Mr Abbott's critique was "wearing thinner and thinner each time", and if he would not quit, he should narrow his attacks to Labor. "He's at the point now where he's doing himself gratuitous harm," Dr Hewson told Fairfax Media. "I think he does less and less harm each time to the government and more and more harm to himself and his credibility.

"If he's going to stay in the Parliament, do something constructive. He ought to think long and hard about what that ought to be." On radio on Monday, Mr Abbott revealed he had a blunt "man-to-man" talk with Mathias Cormann after the Finance Minister publicly attacked him last time he lashed out at the Turnbull government. Mr Abbott earned a stern rebuke from Senator Cormann in February over his scathing critique of the Coalition government's direction, but Mr Abbott didn't take it lying down. "Mathias and I had a man-to-man talk you might say about that particular outburst of his," he told 2GB host Ray Hadley. "We had a very blunt conversation about it. If you don't like what someone is doing, rather than speak out publicly at least in the first instance you should have a man-to-man discussion." Mr Abbott said while Senator Cormann was doing a good job, he had reminded him that as a former PM it was his prerogative to speak out on national and international issues "where I think it's for the good of the country and for the good of the party".

The stoush between the two Liberal heavyweights was triggered after Mr Abbott used a TV interview to accuse the Coalition of becoming "Labor-lite" and said politics should not be "just a contest of toxic egos or someone's vanity project". Senator Cormann declined to comment on Mr Abbott's latest contributions. Liberal MP Craig Kelly said Mr Abbott was entitled to express his opinions but warned another change in leaders would be "an absolute, unmitigated disaster". Loading Liberal senator James Paterson said he agreed Mr Abbott was entitled to argue for the things he believed in, but that he should use his ability to command public attention "carefully, reasonably and judiciously".

- with Michael Koziol