Abbott laments leadership revolving door

Tony Abbott says more order and stability is needed in political leadership, in the wake of Mike Baird's retirement.

Tony Abbott

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says more order and stability is needed in political leadership. (AAP) Source: AAP

The Australian public is yearning for stability in political leadership, says former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Noting the retirement of NSW Premier Mike Baird, Mr Abbott says the constant turnover of leaders has "bedevilled" politics in the past decade.

"We've seen too many prime ministers, we've seen too many premiers, and I think the public yearn for stability," he told the ABC.

"I think the public yearn for certainty and I hope that one way or another in the years ahead we can see more order and stability in our system."

Mr Abbott was ousted by Malcolm Turnbull as Liberal leader in September 2015 - marking the sixth prime ministerial change since 2007.

When Mr Baird's replacement is named next week, NSW will also have had six leaders since 2005.

Mr Abbott, who is on a cancer charity ride in South Australia, has been tweeting this week in response to comments by Mr Turnbull.

In reshuffling his ministry, Mr Turnbull noted that he had brought back "traditional cabinet government" - which has been seen as a slight on his predecessor's style.

Mr Abbott wrote on Twitter that "traditional cabinet processes operated at all times between 2013 and 2015".

"A government without proper processes would not have stopped the boats, concluded the big FTAs (free trade agreements) and made a very strong start to budget repair," he wrote.

He was also critical of the search for the missing plane MH370 being called off and wrote an opinion piece for The Australian lamenting a drop-off in government action to cut red tape for business, find budget savings and ease taxes on business.


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Published 20 January 2017 8:08am
Source: AAP


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