Long-serving Federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch has called on former prime minister Tony Abbott to quit Parliament if he cannot stop criticising the Government.

“He will either be remembered for his positive contributions in his term as a prime minister, or I am fearful that he will eventually end up being remembered as a spoiler,” Mr Entsch told the ABC.

The former prime minister continues to critique the government’s performance and now has two regular spots on Sydney’s highest rating commercial talk station.

But Mr Entsch has reminded Mr Abbott that when he lost the leadership he promised he would not snipe.

“He was going to step down graciously, he was going to serve in the best interests of the country but he was not going to do a running commentary, he was not going to be critical,” Mr Entsch said.

“Well it has been anything but that.

“I find it very disappointing, it seems to me that it is more about payback for our current Prime Minister.”
Mr Entsch argues Mr Abbott should limit his public comments to issues in his own electorate.

“When he starts continuing to sort of perform on a national stage then of course this is very very damaging to the Government,” he said.

“If he can’t contain his comments to issues relating to his electorate — which is what is expected of all of us backbenchers — if he can’t do that and if he feels he just wants to continue to criticise the Government and its performance and the Prime Minister then really he is not making any positive contribution at all.”

In a newspaper opinion piece and on radio yesterday, Mr Abbott said he had taken the pulse of the nation while on his recent charity bike ride.

He has called on the Government to change policies including cutting renewable energy subsidies, making more changes to the Senate as well as abolishing the Safe Schools aimed at protecting gay and transgender children from bullying.

Mr Entsch said those views should be pushed internally.

“He’s more than welcome to argue that position in the party room but I don’t think the national media is the right forum for that,” he said.

And Mr Entsch accused the former prime minister of having a short memory when it came to Safe Schools, which was introduced when Mr Abbott was in power.

Mr Entsch argued while some changes could be made to the program, it had a valuable role in keeping children safe.

“At the end of the day … the suicide statistics speak for themselves and there needs to be some protection there,” he said.

– ABC