Despite the fact he lost the prime ministership last year, Tony Abbott still loves to poke his head above the fold and make his opinions on the Liberal Party very, very clear when the situation demands it.
With the growing rumours that conservative wunderkind Cory Bernardi is planning to ditch the Libs and start his own right-wing party – which may or may not be called the Conservative Party – Abbott has taken to the pages of The Australian to smack the idea down.
He said that he himself has been asked by constituents to jump ship and do his own thing, but he won’t.
After the change of prime ministership in September last year, I received literally thousands of letters, cards and emails of support and encouragement. They’re still coming. I’d say that at least a third asked me to consider starting a new political party. Time and time again, I replied that, for all its faults and failings, the Liberal National coalition is our country’s best hope of sensible centre-right government and that it’s much easier to repair an existing party than to form a new one.
We get it Tony. You receive letters.
Though Bernardi is not mentioned in Abbott’s article, it’s clear that it’s all about him. Apart from maybe George Christensen, there’s no other Coalition MP who seems ready to split away and try to recreate the Trump phenomenon here.
Abbott’s main gripe with a new right-wing party is that it will split conservative preferences and hand government to Labor.
It’s entirely possible that an explicitly conservative party, denouncing the Coalition as unprincipled opportunists, could win a Senate seat in every state. It’s almost inconceivable, though, that it would win a lower house seat anywhere and — here’s the rub — it would inevitably leach preferences away from the Coalition and deliver government to Labor.
If you’re keen, read Tones’ full account over at The Oz. Things are definitely heating up.
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Getty Images.
