RUBY:

Paul Bongiorno, welcome back to 7am. How are you?

PAUL:

I'm pretty good, really.

RUBY:

And how was your holiday? I saw on Twitter that you've been visiting some of the best Italian restaurants that Noosa has to offer.

PAUL:

Well, that's true. It was most enjoyable. In the first week, we actually cracked a run of days when it wasn't raining in Noosa. And I've got to say that the restaurants in Hastings Street, Noosa are fabulous, and I’ll put in a plug here, even though I've paid for all my meals: The Locale, the Italian restaurant in Hastings Street, would have to be one of the best Italian restaurants in the country. So there you go.

RUBY:

Okay, that sounds fun. And Paul, you look a little bit tanned.

PAUL:

(laughs) Well, do I? It must be the filter I’m using this morning.

[Theme Music Starts]

RUBY:

From Schwartz Media I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am.

This week, Tony Abbott re-emerged in a string of radio and television interviews. Some on his own side of politics speculate that it’s part of a push Abbott is making to become president of the NSW Liberal Party.

As he made the rounds of broadcast studios, though, he also became a surprise backer of Anthony Albanese’s foreign policy. Another big week of international meetings was met with applause by a former prime minister who’s better known for tearing down Labor leaders.

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on what Tony Abbott did next.

It’s Friday, July 15.

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RUBY:

Paul, after having a bit of time off, is there anything that has surprised you about coming back to politics this week? What’s stood out?

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, the big surprise was to come back and find Tony Abbott all over radio and television.

Archival tape -- News Presenter 1:

“Tony Abbott, thank you for your time-...”

Archival tape -- News Presenter 2:

“I spoke to Tony Abbott, the former prime minister, a short time ago-...”

Archival tape -- News Presenter 3:

“Tony Abbott, thanks so much for coming on Outsiders-...”

Archival tape -- Patricia Karvelas (ABC):

“Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott joins me now. Tony Abbott, welcome to the programme.”

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“Morning, Patricia.”

PAUL:

But the even biggest shock was to hear what he was saying. Remember that no one has done more in the past decade to shape the direction of Australian politics than Tony Abbott. His ruthless and determined resistance to effective action on climate change was the template for four election campaigns and it pitted narrow partisan interests against the national interest and made divisive, cynical conflict the key ingredient to winning and holding power.

So, Ruby, I had to pinch myself. I was listening to the right person or the same person when I heard him on Radio National full of praise for the Albanese government's diplomatic fence mending and impressed by its national security stance.

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“I certainly applaud the fact that Penny Wong went to the Solomon Islands almost immediately. I applaud the fact that the Prime Minister is going to the Pacific Islands Forum…”

PAUL:

Abbott did try to take some credit though, saying Albanese was following a strategy that he and the Coalition had set while in office.

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“One of the things that encourages me about the new government is that it's very much continued the line of the former government when it comes to Australia's defence and strategic policy, and good on Richard Marles and Anthony Albanese for doing so.”

PAUL:

But he did concede the New Labor Government was doing a better job of implementing this policy than his side had.

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“…the new government in this area at least got straight down to business and good on it for that.”

RUBY:

Okay. And so Paul, why was Tony Abbott doing national interviews once again? What's inspired his return?

PAUL:

Well, I think I can answer that in two parts. The pretext for Abbott's appearances was to pay tribute to the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated last week. And his comments about this were obviously genuinely heartfelt.

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“He was certainly the best friend Australia has ever had from Japan and he is an extraordinary loss to our country and to the wider world…”

PAUL:

Abe had been Prime Minister at the same time as Abbott and the two of them worked together establishing the Democratic Partnership known as the Quad, the arrangement between the United States, Japan, India and Australia, which is basically there to offset China's influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Archival tape -- Tony Abbott:

“I think that the quad is the most important geo strategic development since the formation of NATO in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War…”

PAUL:

But the other reason I think that he's keen to do interviews is a bit more interesting. According to sources in the New South Wales Liberal Party, Abbott has an eye to contesting the state party presidency and is lifting his profile ahead of nominations, which close at the end of the month.

Abbott's been sounding out supporters whose conservative factional allies are still smarting over the way Scott Morrison and his consigliere Alex Hawke ran roughshod over the reformed preselection process in the state division before the election. And I think this is part of what's going on about Abbott.

RUBY:

So you’re saying that it seems like Tony Abbott might want to actually come back in and run the state Liberal branch. So what are the chances of that actually happening? Does being an ex-prime minister make him a bit of a shoo-in?

PAUL:

Shoo-in is probably not quite right, Ruby. He has to face down Phillip Ruddock, who's aligned with the moderates and they dominate the state division and he, Ruddock, is the current state president.

So Abbott will have to work very hard. Nevertheless, he's an old warhorse and he's never resiled from a battle. What's also against him, though, is the proximity of the New South Wales election. The last thing the Perrottet Coalition government needs is to be identified with a climate wrecker like Abbott while they face off against teal independents threatening to run in hitherto safe seats.

RUBY:

So Paul, why is Tony Abbott running? Is it that he misses being in politics or is it that maybe he's suffering from relevance deprivation?

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, I think the simple answer is he's a conviction politician. You may not agree with his convictions. He's a hardline monarchist. In my view he's a social conservative on a range of issues, out of tune with contemporary Australia. And as we said, he's a climate change denier. Certainly worked very hard against climate activism, but he has a history of fighting for his convictions to the death.

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Paul, let's go back to some of the praise that Tony Abbott was offering to Anthony Albanese for his handling of foreign policy because obviously we have the Pacific Islands Forum this week, so could you tell me a bit about that? What are we likely to see unfold?

PAUL:

Yeah, sure. So Abbott parted company with Albanese strident critics on Sky After Dark who have lampooned the prime minister as Airbus Albo for his constant overseas travel since coming to office. Abbott applauded his successor's activism in the Pacific and his attendance at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji. On top of everything else.

Archival tape -- News Presenter:

“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has touched down in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum…”

PAUL:

Canberra has mounted a full court press in Suva with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and International Development and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy all holding one on one meetings with their counterparts, which Albanese did as well when he arrived.

Archival tape -- News Presenter:

“His fourth international trip since the election. The Pacific Islands Forum will be a crucial moment for the new Prime Minister as Australia's neighbours step up the pressure over the Government's climate change commitments…”

PAUL:

The Prime Minister said the forum was a very important meeting at a critical time. This was of course because of what he called the strategic competition in the region, a phrase carefully chosen to avoid mentioning China by name. The Asian giant was the elephant in the room. No one - Australia included - wanted to antagonise Beijing any more than necessary after it was excluded from attending while the United States Vice President Kamala Harris got to virtually address the meeting.

Harris came bearing gifts. She was promising almost $1,000,000,000 in aid, two new embassies in Tonga and Kiribati, and the first ever US envoy to the forum. The American step up is a strong indication of Biden's frustration over Australia's failure to counter the inroads being made by China in the region, a view well known in Washington and referred to by Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

RUBY:

Okay. And so how did Anthony Albanese perform at the forum?

PAUL:

Well, by all accounts very well. He even got a public hug from the Solomons’ troublesome President Sogavare.

Archival tape -- News Reporter:

“The Prime Minister has spent this afternoon getting to know his Pacific family and he received a very warm welcome from the Solomon Islands PM who said he needed a hug…”

PAUL:

Albanese said his new government's greater commitment to climate change action was quote ‘an entree to get through the door of credibility with our Pacific neighbours’.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“We have some real challenges in this region. There's no challenge more important than climate change. And the new Australian Government of course has adopted our nationally determined contribution of 43% by 2030…”

PAUL:

But the overriding message was that security for forum countries has to come from within the Pacific first before engaging outside. Now that translates as Australia actually being willing to step up in a way to convince the Solomons and Kiribati, who are more open to China, that Canberra can meet all their strategic needs.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“We live in a period whereby we have strategic competition in this region as well and that's part of the backdrop of this conference. Australia looks forward to engaging in a positive and constructive way…”

PAUL:

But the problem, Ruby, is island leaders aren't seeing issues in strategic terms, but rather in terms of their development and prosperity. So unlike Australia, they don't believe they have to choose between China and America. They can wait and pick up the best deal.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“Our support for this region does not come with strings attached. It comes because we understand that we have a responsibility as an advanced economy in the region to provide support to our Pacific Island neighbours…”

PAUL:

And that's a problem for Albanese, which he's meeting with an extra half a billion dollars in aid money.

RUBY:

And Paul, there's been criticism of Albanese for spending so much of these past six weeks overseas and obviously these kinds of summits are all prearranged and he's dealing with this kind of urgent reset on foreign policy. But how do you think that that has been received by voters? Is there a danger for Albanese here?

PAUL:

Well Ruby, that's a very good question and we got something of an insight, something of an answer, this week. There's no doubt Albanese is acutely aware of the dangers of being seen as an absent Prime Minister who's taken his eye off problems at home.

Criticism from the Opposition and headlines in the Murdoch papers are easily dismissed in the short term. But The Guardian essential poll this week has found evidence the early honeymoon with voters is waning. Albanese does remain very popular with a net positive approval of 32%. But the three point drop in approval and a six point rise in disapproval can be explained by the Reserve Bank dramatically ratcheting up interest rates this month with the prospect of more to come. You know in a highly leveraged electorate, it's not surprising cost of living pressures knock the shine off an incumbent government, even a new one.

So before he flew out mid-week, the Prime Minister spent the previous two days making major domestic announcements, more disaster relief for flood victims, and a reminder that half a billion dollars has already gone out to more than 600,000 Australians. And on Monday, he revealed the Jobs and Skills Summit would be held at the beginning of September. That means the next three months will be heavily domestically focussed. There'll be the return of Parliament, the summit and then the budget in October.

So we are about to see a shift in focus, Ruby, and that will really test the Albanese Government's mettle. Though less significantly, it will also put the blowtorch on the Opposition, and they will need to better get their act together.

RUBY:

Paul, thank you so much for your time. It's great to have you back.

PAUL:

Thanks, Ruby. It's great to be back. Bye!

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RUBY:

Also in the news today,

Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.5 per cent, making it the lowest since 1974.

In the tight labour market, job vacancies remain high after an estimated 88,400 jobs were added to the economy last month.

And across the country the latest wave of Covid-19 infections is putting major hospitals under pressure, with Victoria’s health system reporting at least 1900 hospital staff were off work this week due to Covid-19.

With the peak of the latest wave of Covid still weeks away, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for national cabinet to meet to discuss the crisis.

Palaszczuk said on Thursday that her NSW counterpart also supported the idea.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. It’s produced by Elle Marsh, Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Alex Tighe and Alex Gow.

Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Brian Campeau mixes the show. Our editor is Scott Mitchell. Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

Original music in this week's episodes by Alex Gow.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am. See you next week.

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PAUL:

(laughs) Head like a rock, you know the Elvis Presley song? Oh by the way I’ve seen the movie Elvis, I loved it.

RUBY:

Cool, I’m going next week.

PAUL:

Hard headed woman, head like a rock, every time I kiss I wanna run around the block oh yeah oh yeah - sorry here we go.

RUBY:

No that’s going into the episode.

PAUL:

(laughs) The great thing about Presley was he actually had a magnificent voice, you know, if you’ve seen the movie the last song which they have…