On Monday, Mr Abbott continued his campaign of media appearances and speeches with an interview with Sydney radio station 2GB. Former prime minister Tony Abbott can't keep his head down. Credit:Andrew Meares "It's a simple truth that we are hemorrhaging members," he said. "We're haemorrhaging members in every state but it's a particular problem in NSW because we've got this dreadful situation where we have got factionalists and lobbyists who seem to be controlling the party. The best way to liberate our party from factional control, the best way to liberate our part from the lobbyists, is to give every single member a vote. He batted away the suggestion he was helping the Labor Party get elected, saying he wanted the government "to be the best possible government".

"There's a fight by the membership, by the rank and file, to take back what is rightly theirs, control over the lay party. "And then there's a fight for the kind of policy which a Liberal-National government should be on about. Now, traditionally what we've been on about is lower taxes, smaller government, greater freedom." Asked on Monday if Mr Abbott was deliberately agitating for change to take oxygen from the first anniversary of an elected Turnbull government, Senator Sinodinos demurred. "You'd have to ask him whether it was deliberate or not," he told ABC radio. On Sunday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used the July 2 anniversary to reveal he would walk away from politics if he lost the top job.

"When I cease to be prime minister, I will cease to be a member of parliament," he told News Corp. "I am not giving anyone else advice but I just think that's what I would do." But on Monday, Mr Turnbull declared he would remain in the top job for a "very long time" and would emerge victorious from the 2019 election. "I can assure you I will be prime minister for many, many years to come," he said. "So that's my commitment."

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