Former prime minister Tony Abbott is urging the federal government to urgently adopt his latest plan to reassure disillusioned voters while cautioning his coalition colleagues about the dangers of dumping sitting prime ministers.
Just two months after being attacked by senior coalition figures for publicly criticising the government's direction, Mr Abbott re-emerged on Monday with a five-point plan to reconnect with the electorate.
Outlining his plan in News Corp newspapers and on radio, Mr Abbott said voters were more disillusioned than ever with politicians.
"The truth is people aren't happy," he told 2GB's Ray Hadley.
"They're sick of governments that don't deliver, they're sick of oppositions that play politics, they're sick of minor parties that are all grievance and no solution and they want all of us to lift our game."
That's the message Mr Abbott says he received loud and clear after taking the "pulse" of hundreds of voters he met during the recent eight-day Pollie Pedal fundraising event in regional Australia.
His solution centres on:
* axing the Human Rights Commission;
* cutting renewable energy subsidies to reduce power prices;
* reforming the Senate to end legislative gridlock;
* protecting existing benefits for employees, but make it easier for future generations to get work;
* being proud of Australia.
Mr Abbott's latest call to arms comes after 10 bad opinion poll results for Malcolm Turnbull, who ousted Mr Abbott as prime minister in September 2015 after voters turned against him.
But he's warning his colleagues against governments dumping prime ministers who are struggling in the polls.
"The best way to keep (Opposition Leader Bill) Shorten out is not to sack an elected prime minister yet again but to ensure that the government does its job better," the now backbencher wrote.
Mr Abbott said there was an expectation that Mr Shorten could soon be in the Lodge even though voters blamed Labor as much as the government for certain problems.
"What I am saying is what we need is good government and generally speaking you don't get good government by having a revolving-door prime ministership," he told 2GB.
Mr Abbott's latest intervention in the running of the Turnbull government is unlikely to be rewarded.
In February, Mr Turnbull and senior ministers branded Mr Abbott as "sad" after he used a Sky News interview and a speech to launch a scathing critique of the government's direction, saying it had become "Labor lite".
Cabinet minister Darren Chester said the coalition was already focused on being a good government to keep Labor out of office.
"We've got to work together as Liberal and National Party MPs and ministers who are passionate about Australia's future and deliver everything we said we'd do -- that's what people expect of their governments," he told ABC radio on Monday.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said it was "stating the obvious" to say politicians were unpopular and he wasn't "overly concerned" with Mr Abbott's opinions.
