On the Sunday before he was overthrown as prime minister in September 2015, Tony Abbott sweated through a gym workout with his candidate in the upcoming Canning byelection, Andrew Hastie.

Hastie, who went on to win the seat on the southern outskirts of Perth despite the political chaos of the days preceding it, took the opportunity to ask for Abbott’s advice on leadership.

“I asked him about leadership and he said, ‘Look, I never sought the leadership actively – but I always put myself in striking distance’,” the Liberal MP told a business event in November 2022.

“That’s the way to look at it.”

Rise of the ‘MAGA-right’

A decade on from that conversation with Abbott, with whom he remains close, the former Special Air Services (SAS) captain is putting himself within striking dista

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