There was a time when Tony Abbott was happy to sing the praises of federal Treasurer Scott Morrison.
Not now.
Nearly two years after Mr Morrison helped bring down the former prime minister the pair only talk when they have to.
Mr Morrison was the man Mr Abbott appointed to stop asylum-seeker boats reaching Australia after a flood of arrivals under successive Labor governments.
He did a "very, very good job" with Operation Sovereign Borders, a quasi-military campaign that turned back the boats at sea.
"I was proud to be the prime minister when all of that was done," Mr Abbott told Ray Hadley on 2GB radio on Monday.
But now there was "an issue between us".
"Long-term bad blood" is created when you have the political execution of a first term democratically-elected prime minister, Mr Abbott said.
"It takes time for those wounds to heal."
Now Mr Abbott only has occasional dealings with Mr Morrison and the treasurer's office, as he does with other ministers.
Hadley fell out spectacularly with Mr Morrison earlier in the year, cancelling the pair's weekly on air chat after the treasurer did an interview with another radio station after saying he was too busy to talk to the 2GB broadcaster.
Hadley now labels him the "least authentic member of government".
The shock jock asked Mr Abbott whether he thought Mr Morrison is "fair dinkum"?
"Whether people are fair dinkum is for others to judge," he replied.
