She then rested her head on his shoulder and complained of being tired. Former prime minister Tony Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen It was this sort of behaviour that sparked endless gossip in Canberra about the dynamic of the prime minister's dependence on his staffer. In extracts published in The Australian on Saturday, Savva writes that one of Mr Abbott's most loyal lieutenants, conservative New South Wales Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, sounded the warning the night before the first attempt to oust Mr Abbott as leader in February 2015. The senator tackled head-on one of the most circulated rumours in Canberra during the years Mr Abbott, his chief of staff and her husband Brian Loughnane, the federal director of the Liberal Party, dominated the organisation.

"Politics is about perceptions," Senator Fierravanti-Wells is quoted as telling Mr Abbott. Tony Abbott and former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin asked Savva's former editor to sack her. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "Rightly or wrongly, the perception is that you are sleeping with your chief of staff. That's the perception, and you need to deal with it. "I am here because I care about you, and I care about your family, and I feel I need to tell you the truth, the brutal truth. This is what your colleagues really think." Former prime minister Tony Abbott winks as he departs Question Time. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Abbott denied the rumours and refused to sack Ms Credlin – a hugely divisive figure within the government because of her micro-managing and domineering style. In the past, Mr Abbott accused his colleagues of being sexist and claimed they would not criticise his chief of staff if her name was "Peter" and not "Peta". Rightly or wrongly, the perception is that you are sleeping with your chief of staff. Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells This is the same defence Ms Credlin has mounted since the collapse of the Abbott prime ministership. Since their fall from government, Mr Abbott has asked Mr Turnbull to appoint Ms Credlin Sex Discrimination Commissioner and to make Mr Loughnane Australia's Ambassador to the Vatican – both requests the new Prime Minister has declined.

Senator Fierravantti-Wells is reported to have delivered the same blunt criticism to Ms Credlin, who paid her a visit two-days later. This is when she made her prophecy, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald's political editor Peter Hartcher, that: "One day Tony will be sitting on a park bench in Manly feeding the pigeons and he will blame you." Ms Savva was one of Ms Credlin's fiercest critics during Mr Abbott's prime ministership. This led to Ms Credlin, backed by Mr Abbott, demanding the editor of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, sack her. Mr Abbott denied demanding Ms Savva's head, but Mr Mitchell stands by his interpretation of the conversation according to Hartcher's five-part series Shirtfronted: The Story of the Abbott Government. Ms Savva's extracts also contain details of what prominent Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told Mr Abbott a month before the September coup.

Senator Joyce – now National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister – reportedly told Mr Abbott he would face a leadership challenge around the time of the Canning by-election. It's also reported that current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton urged Mr Abbott to replace then-Treasurer Joe Hockey with Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Abbott did not heed their advice and was replaced with Malcolm Turnbull on September 15 – the Monday before the Canning poll. He promised that there would be "no wrecking, no undermining and no sniping," but has since criticised the new Prime Minister over national security and economic policies. A separate News Corp report quotes Mr Abbott as pledging to continue defending his "legacy" but that any concerns he holds about the Turnbull government will be overridden by the prospect of a Bill Shorten-led Labor government.

Fairfax Media has asked Ms Credlin and Mr Abbott for comment. Follow us on Twitter Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook