Despite the fact they no longer hold such a high-profile, powerful job, they have developed a habit of popping up in media interviews. All the time. In fact, they sometimes seem to give more interviews and write more columns than the person who succeeded them. Former political foes Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd have more in common than many think. Credit:Andrew Meares In these interviews, they profess a desire to help the government while making thinly veiled (and sometimes not veiled at all) criticisms of what the government is doing. They also appear in cheerful selfies with regular punters in regular situations to show what a regular guy they are. Who are we talking about here? (Here's a hint, it's not Kevin Rudd.)

But if you guessed Tony Abbott, you get the prize. The member for Warringah is turning in to the former member for Griffith. Post-prime ministerial life is having a cloning effect. On paper, Abbott could not be further from Rudd. Yes, the two were both booted out by their parties in their first term as prime minister. But one was a foreign affairs buff and self-declared wonk for the Labor team. The other is a bike riding, board surfing leader of the Liberals. And yet Abbot is displaying so many Rudd-like attributes it is eerie.

On paper, Abbott could not be further from Rudd. And yet Abbott is displaying so many Rudd-like attributes it is eerie (He's even off to Singapore to make a speech and meet the prime minister in a 100 per cent Ruddish move.) But despite giving everyone a strong dose of deja vu, the Tony Rudd phenomenon is also deeply troubling. Australia has already been down the path where an ex-PM hangs around Parliament as a not-so-silent reminder of the political treachery that befell them. It starts off innocently enough. After all, aren't MPs allowed to give interviews? Talk about their record? Give advice?

But as we saw with Rudd, things quickly went to a distracting and destructive place - not simply for the Labor Party but for the Parliament as a whole. On Tuesday evening, Abbott gave a lengthy interview to Paul Murray on Sky News, where he talked about what a great job he did as prime minister, blamed other people for his downfall and suggested the Coalition would have won the next election with him anyway. He also gave strong hints that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Abbott has been elected by the people of Warringah and so has a right to stay on and keep representing them until there is an electoral decision otherwise. But if he's going to hang around, perhaps Rudd isn't the best felled politician to model himself on. If he keeps going like this, how long will it be before Abbott is dancing toy polar bears in video messages?

This week, Joe Hockey spoke plainly about how he left Canberra because had he stayed, he would have focussed on "getting even with people that brought me down". While it's questionable whether this is the sort of language (and attitude) Australia wants from a future top diplomat, at least the guy was being honest. When Julia Gillard brought on the June 2013 spill that ended her prime ministership, she declared that the loser should retire. When she lost, she kept her word. Democracy might be about sharing, but in politics, sometimes it's healthier if the winner takes all. Follow us on Twitter