Tony Abbott thinks he's too young to retire.
Which means the "reasonably vigorous" 57-year-old former prime minister won't be rushing to a final decision on his long-term future in or out of politics.
Instead he'll wait until after Christmas to declare his hand.
In his first radio interview since losing the Liberal leadership to Malcolm Turnbull two weeks ago, Mr Abbott acknowledged that politics was a bruising business.
"It's a game of snakes and ladders and, yes, I've hit a snake," he told 2GB's Ray Hadley on Tuesday.
But rather than dwelling on the bad, he wants to focus on the privilege of having been able to serve Australia as prime minister for two years.
"I've never believed in watching my own own back"
And until he makes up his mind about what to do next he'll serve the community in other ways, with his local bushfire brigade and surf lifesaving patrols.
Mr Abbott refused to explicitly criticise Mr Turnbull, perennial deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop or now-treasurer Scott Morrison for his downfall.
"I've never believed in watching my own own back," he said.
"Any leader who is watching his back is not focusing on the main job.
"And if the leader ever starts to play internal politics, well I think the leader almost by definition is in big trouble."
It was counterproductive to keep revisiting who said what in the lead-up to the leadership ballot, Mr Abbott said.
But he did concede Mr Morrison had tried to warn his chief of staff Peta Credlin the Friday before the spill.
Mr Abbott and his boosters previously have criticised Mr Morrison for not doing enough to support him.
"In the end, I suppose all of us have got to answer to our god and our consciences," he said.
Mr Abbott does not believe those gunning for him would have been mollified had he dumped either Joe Hockey as treasurer or Ms Credlin, saying people focused on a particular objective wouldn't be put off by "a few human sacrifices".
He hopes his removal will put an end to the "revolving door prime ministership" for the good of the country.
And he urged upset coalition supporters not to abandon the conservative parties, "even if they have to do it through gritted teeth".
Mr Abbott believes he could have won the next federal election, despite a Newspoll analysis showing the coalition could have lost as many as 38 of its 90 lower house seats.
He cited internal party polling the weekend before the Canning by-election - days before his dumping - that showed they would win with 57 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
In the end, Mr Abbott believed it was most important that he had stood for something.
"It's always true in government or in opposition: you've got to stand for things, you've got to fight for things," he said.
"That means knowing exactly what you want to change, why you want to change it and then getting on with it."
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