Yesterday's man steps in
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A rising tide that will sink the Libs
The shit that happened has floated back into frame. Tones is back!
What was predicted has come to pass. Kiss O'Death, or Tone Deaf as he's known in some circles, has been elected unopposed as President of the Lying Nasty Party. Abbott is emblematic of the Libs - a 68 year old male, a political failure, a RWNJ soundly rejected by his electorate, a condescending sexist, a technophobe, a biblical literalist and a wrecker. Who better to repair the fortunes of his forsaken party?
The greatest threat to the Libs and Nats is One Nation - the party of grievance and dissent, a repository for the anger of the rubes who were abandoned by the Nats in favour of billionaire mining interests and of the disaffected urban bogans who cheer on the ginger whinger who has consistently voted against their interests. Abbott believes validating the resentments of the populist right will bring them back into the L/NP fold. Instead, he is giving them permission to vote for One Nation.
Abbott is adored in the RWNJ ecosphere as "the best opposition leader we've ever had". In opposition he prosecuted a 'just say no' campaign of blanket negativity and disparagement, disregarding merit and national interests in favour of constant conflict. And he carried it over into government. Defined by what he was against, his greatest achievements were tearing down the accomplishments of others. It's easy to oppose, harder to have ideas of your own.
As a hard-core born-to-ruler Abbott believes in an immutable, God-ordained hierarchy where he and his patronising ilk form the upper echelon, ceding status only to royalty and the Vatican (the woke Leo XIV excepted I suspect), and there is no bastardry that is out of bounds for restoring and maintaining that arrangement.
The beatings will continue until morale improves:
“We need to break the something-for-nothing, entitlement mindset that is so corrosive of societies’ morale...”
Tony Abbott, in a 2025 speech to the International Democracy Union. Abbott is on a ≈ $300k p.a. obligation-free, indexed pension for life + travel, office and support perks.
Abbott's agenda is no secret. A focus on "preserving traditional values, national identity, strong borders" and promoting nuclear/fossil fuel/anti-climate mitigation. It's Peter Dutton’s agenda + the rescinding of industrial relations protections. Bernard Keane: "...the Liberal future Abbott thinks will be a winner is Dutton plus WorkChoices".
When Tony Abbott was elected PM by his party the Libs had 44 metropolitan seats. They now have nine. Only one of their seats on the east coast has coastal views and none front Sydney Harbour. The bourgeoisie fled for the exits in previous Tory strongholds in Melbourne, zero seats are directly held by the Libs within the greater Brisbane area and they hold one each in metropolitan Adelaide and Perth. 57% of Australians reside in major metropolitan areas - yet now with bugger all representation in the Liberal party room.
The Lib's response to their existential crisis:
The Liberal Party is 'under new management’ declared Abbott. Two old school tie, privileged products of their cloistered orbit within Gothic sandstone grandeur, ritual, robes and incense. There was some concession to diversity - Abbott is an alumnus of St Ignatius' College, Riverview while Taylor was educated at The King's School, Parramatta.
A further lurch to the right and further alienation of 86% of voters who do not identify as Right¹
is their plan for electoral redemption? Abbott's attack dog style is to be unleashed, salted with warmed-over MAGA-ish jingoism - "That's what we are, the freedom party ... but above all else, we are the patriot party, which is why at our best, we should be absolutely unbeatable." Stir in some appeals to the antediluvians and dog-whistling to the racist fringe - "As Liberals, we cherish freedom, we respect tradition, but above all else we love our country."
The bogeyman of fanciful crises, hyperbolic accusations of imminent civilisation collapse at the hands of the demonic forces of Labor, unions, greenies and the woke will be invoked accompanied by the performative outrage of Murdoch's muckers.
Those who also welcome Tones back are Labor and the independents. Oh, and Pauline.
How voters perceive their own politics and the relative positions of political parties in a left/right ideological space. An Accent Research and RedBridge Group report. Figure 2.
What exactly is Tony Abbott playing at? Christopher Warren, Crikey ($) 11 May, 2026
"Tony Abbott is the closest person the Liberals have to a Pauline Hanson figure. With his expanding influence, could we see a return to politics? Or did he never really leave?"