Malcolm Turnbull vows not to be provoked but Mathias Cormann ‘flabbergasted’ at ‘completely unhelpful’ commentary

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Senior cabinet ministers have rejected Tony Abbott’s conservative manifesto and gloomy assessment of the government’s fortunes, with Mathias Cormann labelling it a “self-indulgent” and “deliberately destructive” intervention.

Malcolm Turnbull has vowed not to be provoked by Abbott but endorsed Cormann’s attack and sharply contrasted his record of achievement with unfulfilled talk of the former prime minister.



Christopher Pyne and the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, both acknowledged Abbott’s right as a backbencher to make proposals, but the pair have circled the wagons to defend the performance of the Turnbull government in the face of the hardline conservative critique.

On Thursday Abbott unveiled a sweeping conservative manifesto for the next federal election, declaring the Coalition needs to cut immigration, slash the renewable energy target, abolish the Human Rights Commission, and gut the capacity of the Senate to be a roadblock to the government’s agenda.

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He warned the government wouldn’t win the next election unless it wins back the conservative base, and failing to adopt conservative policies could justify voters opting for One Nation over the Coalition.

On Friday morning Cormann told Sky News he was “flabbergasted” and “saddened” by what he called Abbott’s decision “to provide more and more destructive commentary”.

The finance minister said that “nothing good comes from an interview like that”, labelling it “deliberately destructive”, “completely unhelpful” and “quite self-indulgent”.

“Much of what he says is either wrong or inconsistent with what he did as prime minister.”

Responding to a Sky News report that Abbott told Cory Bernardi he wanted to return to the leadership, Cormann said: “I can’t see any scenario in which there’s a return of Tony Abbott to the leadership of the Liberal party.”

He said the party room was strong and united behind Turnbull and Bishop, the deputy leader.

Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, Turnbull claimed Abbott was distracting the media but not his government. He said Cormann had described and characterised Abbott’s intervention “perfectly”.

“I think the views he expressed would be shared by many, many people in Australia and in the parliament.”

Earlier on 3AW in Melbourne, Turnbull rejected Abbott’s assessment the government was drifting, saying it had done things Abbott “couldn’t or wouldn’t get done”.

“I have not talked about abolishing the Life Gold Pass for former MPs and ministers – I’ve abolished it.

“I haven’t talked about restoring the rule of law to the building sector – I’ve done it.”

Turnbull said abolishing the renewable energy target as Abbott proposed would undermine jobs and investment and introduce more uncertainty into the energy market. It could never get through the Senate, he added.

Asked if he would punish Abbott for the intervention, Turnbull responded that he would not be provoked.

“My government has a record of achievement. In the last six months since the election we have achieved more ... with fewer seats in the House and fewer seats in the Senate than we did in the previous three years.

“Tony Abbott is a very experienced politician ... he knows exactly what he’s doing ... and so do his colleagues.”

On Friday the defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, told Channel Nine’s Today program the government would not freeze immigration.

He said the proposal “would be catastrophic in places like Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, [and] most places outside the capital cities”.

“We won’t be slashing spending. Abbott tried that in 2014 and the budget during his leadership but, of course, a whole lot of zombie legislation sat in the Senate unable to be passed.”

Pyne said backbenchers are “very welcome” to state their views but vowed the government would not be “distracted by some of these issues”.

“The cabinet is very united by behind Malcolm Turnbull,” he said, noting that when Abbott was leader he trailed Bill Shorten 30% to 48% as preferred prime minister.



“So we are on the right track with Malcolm Turnbull and with the government’s policies.”



Speaking to reporters in London, Bishop rejected Abbott’s assessment that the government risks a “drift to defeat” if it fails to lift its performance.

“I don’t accept that characterisation at all,” she said.

Bishop said she had not seen Abbott’s “so-called manifesto”. She said the Liberal party welcomed policy initiatives from ministers and backbenchers and as a former party leader Abbott would have ideas.

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When asked if she thought Abbott was doing to the Liberal party what Kevin Rudd had done to the Labor party, Bishop said she didn’t see it that way.



Bishop also rejected a suggestion from conservative commentator Andrew Bolt in an interview with Abbott that – unlike the immigration minister, Peter Dutton – she had not been “conservative, plain-speaking and loyal”.

Bishop said she had been elected by the party to be deputy leader and she owed her loyalty to the party room.



“If there’s a characterisation about being conservative and plain speaking and loyal I believe I fill that characterisation.”



In an interview on Radio National on Friday, the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, noted the renewable energy target of 23.5% by 2020 had been agreed between Abbott and Labor just 18 months ago.

Frydenberg repeated the mantra that backbenchers are entitled to their views but noted the Turnbull government had achieved conservative policies including restoring the Australian Building and Construction Commission.