A close confidant and ally of Tony Abbott has advised the former prime minister to stay in public life and suggested Malcolm Turnbull should appoint him Australia’s next high commissioner in London.
Roger Corbett, a former Reserve Bank board member, Woolworths chief executive and Fairfax Media chairman, confirmed the pair had, in recent months, discussed a post-politics career for the dumped Liberal leader.
…On Mr Abbott’s future career, Mr Corbett said that “in the same way that [former Labor leader and US ambassador] Kim Beazley was treated with great respect by both sides, I hope the government treats him with the respect an ex-prime minister deserves”.
“There may well be a very appropriate appointment for him [Mr Abbott] in the future. When Alexander Downer finishes his appointment that might be a very good spot for Tony. Europe will be a very important posting in the next two to five years.”
If there was one area Tony Abbott was most painfully out of his depth it was international relations.