Abbott, Hanson bury the hatchet for book

Tony Abbott says there is a lot of dirty water under bridge in his relationship with Pauline Hanson after helping launch her new book at Parliament House.

According to the man who once helped land her in jail, Pauline Hanson is a testament to the adage 'you are always better the second time around'.

The apparently pointed remark came from Tony Abbott as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the woman who once detested him.

Was the country's 28th prime minister also talking about himself?

"That's an entirely hypothetical question and I couldn't possibly comment," Mr Abbott said when asked if it also applied to his own political career.

The book launch love-in in Parliament House to mark a new compilation of the One Nation leader's speeches was a far cry from the "political witch-hunt" Senator Hanson accused Mr Abbott and John Howard of in the early 2000s.

"Between Pauline and myself there has been a lot of dirty water under the bridge, but her willingness to let the past be the past is a sign of decency which is all too rare these days in our public life," Mr Abbott said.

Back in 1996, when Senator Hanson was a "lone voice crying in the wilderness", Mr Abbott thought she was damaging what he believed was the best conservative government in the nation's history.

Now she has worked with her colleagues constructively in the Senate to help the coalition government implement its agenda, he said.

"If I may say so, Pauline, adversity has made you a better, deeper person and you are certainly confirmation of that old adage that you are always better the second time around."

And while he insists he's fighting for the re-election of the coalition, he agrees with many of Senator Hanson's ideas - namely scaling back immigration, building more coal-fire power stations, dams and recognising "we do have a problem with Islamism".

He is even making it his mission for the government to preference One Nation below themselves and above Labor and the Greens.

Senator Hanson says she called Mr Abbott last Thursday with a "cheeky" request for him to launch her book.

"Well you burst out laughing," she said.

"Whether he thought I was having a go at him I don't know."

She said both of them have had their ups and downs, praising Mr Abbott for not walking away when he lost the prime ministership.

"It's a clear indication that we have stuck with what we believe in to work for the Australian people," Senator Hanson said.

"I think that like Nelson Mandela did, after 28 years in prison he forgave and he forgot and I think that's what we need to do."