Senator Jacqui Lambie has pulled no punches in a vitriolic interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly branding Tony Abbott a “lying liar” with “no balls” and “no guts” who is too scared to meet her.

She also whacks politicians she’s dealt with in the past, calling them “vicious bastards” who “tell one lie after another.”

• Jacqui Lambie rejects calls for gun law changes

In a wide-ranging chat the now independent senator said Prime Minister Abbott, whom she refers to as “the bastard”, is part of a group of “males that go to all-boys schools (that) are scared of powerful females”.

“Females scare the crap out of him, but he’s going to have to grow a pair because he has to deal with me,” Ms Lambie said.

She also claimed Mr Abbott did not “wear the pants” in his office.

“Peta Credlin (his Chief of Staff) – she’s the one that wears the pants,” she said.

“That’s another thing with those blokes from the all-boys schools: they can only deal with one powerful female at a time.”

Ms Lambie said many politicians in Canberra came from a position of privilege and were out of touch with regular people.

“Snobs is [sic] something I am getting used to,” she said.

“Canberra is full of people who think they’re better than you. It’s a born to rule mentality by people who have never had to struggle.

“They have no idea how the average Australian is going … they “stay in hotels that cost $300 a night.”

During the interview the former soldier also took aim at The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) saying the department enjoyed “screwing over” soldiers.