Abbott was Australia’s best opposition leader. But his return to the spotlight could overshadow the new guy

Has Angus Taylor just made a fatal mistake?

Last Friday, at a bit after 3pm, former Liberal leader and prime minister Tony Abbott was elected unopposed as the party’s federal president.

The role is typically a behind-the-scenes position that requires someone who can gently persuade, occasionally twist an arm and generally get things done with a minimum of fuss.

In other words, the complete opposite approach to Abbott’s hard-charging, take-no-prisoners style, which was, and is, characterised by a crusading fervour and an unshakeable conviction in the righteousness of his causes.

Taylor has long been a supporter of Abbott, who has for years been one of his political mentors, and backed the former prime minister over former foreign minister Alexander Downer to take the party presidency.

Downer, himself now a party vice president, declared that his colleagues in the parliament would need to become “media tarts” over the next couple of years to get in front of the Australian people and persuade them that the current Labor government needs to be voted out of office.

He didn’t have Abbott in mind. Indeed, the former prime minister, after a stirring five-minute address on Friday afternoon that reminded everyone of his considerable rhetorical skills, declined interviews about his new role.

But being Liberal Party president is the most frontline political job Abbott has held since losing the seat of Warringah to independent Zali Steggall in 2019.

And just three days on from his election as president, Abbott was unable to resist the lure of the spotlight on Monday morning.

In quick succession, Abbott appeared on Nine’s Today show, ABC’s Radio National breakfast program and Sky News. He also sent out a fundraising email to members.

During those TV spots, he sounded as polished and focused as he did more than a decade ago when campaigning against the Gillard government’s carbon and mining taxes.

And that’s the problem.

Abbott sounded like an alternative opposition leader. And, arguably, a more polished and persuasive one than Taylor.

He is unable to operate with anything other than laser-like focus, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original Terminator movie, and he risks overshadowing his less experienced and less polished successor.

Abbott told the ABC’s Sally Sara that he “didn’t expect to be in the media every day” but that his election as president could convince sceptical voters (ie, those people who have deserted the opposition for One Nation) that the Coalition was fair dinkum about scrapping Labor’s new taxes, ending so-called mass migration and more.

Abbott’s selection as party president is the political equivalent of a Rorschach test, a test in which the subject is asked to explain what they see in a series of ambiguous ink blots.

Do voters see a failed prime minister whose leadership was punctuated by a series of culture wars and weird decisions like knighting Prince Phillip?

Or do they see a plain-speaking patriot who will fight for Australia and who, with devastating effect, is able to diagnose and distil the problems of the current government and its policies into a series of three-word slogans that set out the problems and offer solutions?

Abbott was the most effective opposition leader in recent Australian history. The problem was, once installed as prime minister, three-word slogans were not enough (no doubt he would disagree with this) and he was found wanting by both his party room and the Australian people.

Taylor backed Abbott to be president because they are ideological soul mates and because the Liberal Party is in existential crisis, as Abbott conceded in what could be called his inauguration speech. It’s now “all hands on deck” to save the party from going under, with One Nation surging to second place – and even first place – in the polls.

By drafting Abbott back into service, Taylor is using every tool and every ally at his disposal to revive the party’s fortunes.

The problem is that Abbott, depending on how often he appears in the media, could be a giant distraction for the current opposition leader – and a voice that overshadows his own.

At a time when Taylor is trying to establish his own bona fides with Australians, and needs to convince voters that the modern Liberal party is in touch with their needs, the last thing he needs is a man who used to do his job intervening on a regular basis to share his thoughts.

At best, it sends mixed messages.

At worst, it undermines Taylor and makes him look like Abbott’s puppet.

And no one is going to vote for a puppet at a time when Australians are crying out for authenticity.

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