Tony Abbott was on a layover in Dubai when he phoned Natasha Griggs – the president of the Country Liberal Party – and set off a chain reaction inside the Coalition.

Hours later, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defected to the Liberals and a surprise leadership ticket was taking shape.

For moderates, it was another sign that the former prime minister and his confidante, Peta Credlin, are still pulling the party’s levers from the outside.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis, on Tony Abbott, the shadow network steering the Liberals and why insiders say it’s a cancer that’s killing the party.

 

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Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis.

Photo: Supplied

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