Neil Mitchell: Abbott’s a malicious malcontent – but he was right about one thing

Neil Mitchell says former PM Tony Abbott and his team are “behaving like malicious malcontents” but that Abbott’s comments regarding Turnbull’s leadership are right.

“He’s forgiven nobody for dumping him and he wants blood,” Neil said.

“But he was right when he said at the weekend, ‘This is no way to run a government’.

“A firm policy on Tuesday is reversed by Friday.”

The comments made by Abbott come amid questions over the leadership, and whether Peter Dutton might be preparing a challenge for the Prime Ministership.

“If he’s beaten in the party room, he will quit, I think he’s made that pretty clear,” Neil said.

“But that would trigger a by-election in his seat, which would probably be lost to the Greens, then the government with its one seat majority could lose power.

“You’ll have Bill PM and heaven only knows what he stands for this morning, because it’ll be changed by this afternoon.”

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MP Tim Wilson, the Victorian backbencher who has signaled his opposition to Turnbull’s plan for power prices, told Neil the focus should be on the policy, not personal ambitions.

“We’ve got to land a policy position which should unite the party, that’s where the focus should be,” he said

“He’s (Turnbull) put forward a policy and some people have sought to refine it.

“Some people put their priorities and their focus on the nation at the fore which is what I’m doing, some people put their personal ambition at the fore.”

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