The former Australian Medical Association President, Bill Glasson, is contesting the byelection for the seat of Griffith, prompted by the retirement of Kevin Rudd.
Prime Minister Abbott praised Bill Glasson's dedication.
"He's not going into the parliament to promote his career or build his ego. He's going into the parliament to serve our country.
"I have never met a man with better or purer motives for going into parliament in this country."
Mr Glasson's told Sky News the byelection is all about local issues.
"The message to the people of Griffith is that this is not a general election. This is a byelection. This is not about Mr Abbott, it's not about Mr Shorten (federal opposition leader), it's about Bill Glasson and his Labor opponent.
"And so the day after the byelection next week, you'll still have Tony Abbott as the Prime Minister, you'll still have an LNP government but hopefully you'll have an LNP member for the seat of Griffith."
Meanwhile, Labor candidate Terri Butler says Bill Glasson might have close ties to the Prime Minister but that won't help the people of Griffith.
"I know that my LNP opponent is very close friends with Tony Abbott. They're so close that Tony Abbott's out talking him up today despite not having been here since the byelection was called on the sixth of January.
"But even though they're close, he hasn't been able to change Tony Abbott's mind, he hasn't been able to speak out against LNP policies, he hasn't spoken out against Campbell Newman's (Queensland Premier) policies, in fact he defended Campbell Newman's health care cuts."
Share
