Tony Abbott has declared the Liberal Party is “under new management” after being elected as its president, vowing to help Opposition Leader Angus Taylor lead a “people’s revolt” against the Labor government. The former prime minister and conservative warrior was elected unopposed at the Liberal federal council meeting in Melbourne on Friday, marking a return to active political life seven years after losing his seat in federal parliament.
“I owe the Liberal party big time, and that’s why I regard it as my duty to serve the party in this time of existential crisis,” Abbott said. The federal presidency is an unpaid role overseeing the party’s administrative wing and campaigning infrastructure, typically away from the media spotlight. However, Abbott’s large public profile and hardline views are expected to attract more attention, creating potential distractions for Taylor and prompting fears among moderates about a further lurch to the right.
In his speech to the federal council, the 68-year-old claimed Australia was “drifting backwards” and plagued by a “kind of spiritual malaise”. He said the Albanese government was incapable of fixing the nation’s problems due to its ties to trade unions, its “obsession” with cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and an “ambivalence about the country itself”. Abbott warned the Liberal Party needed to urgently rebuild its grassroots membership base, which he said would be lucky to number 50,000.
Describing the Liberals as the “patriot party”, Abbott said it should be an “absolutely unbeatable” political force. “Our job, individually and collectively, is to lead a people’s revolt to be rid of the worst government in living memory,” he said. “I promise you, we are under new management. We are hungry to win for our country’s sake.” Abbott made the same declaration after leading the Coalition to its landslide 2013 election win.
Liberal frontbencher James Paterson welcomed Abbott’s election, describing him as the party’s best campaigner in “modern times” and a “devastatingly effective opposition leader”. Labor ministers mocked the move, with Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen saying, “Tony Abbott has been utterly out of touch with the views of mainstream Australia for 20 years. If he is going to play a bigger role in Liberal party policy, that is bad for the Liberal party and good for the Labor party.” Environment Minister Murray Watt said Abbott’s return was the latest sign the Liberal Party was out of step with mainstream Australians, adding, “They have decided to chase One Nation and drift further to the right rather than listen to the vast majority of Australians who do not support those views.”
