Tony Abbott has urged Malcolm Turnbull to revisit some of the aspects of the infamous 2014 budget and toughen up his message on power prices in some end-of-year advice that will hover over the Turnbull government as it enters into the final parliamentary week for the year.
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The former prime minister also made it clear he would like to return to the frontbench, suggesting he would be less able to free range on policy ideas if he was bound by the discipline of cabinet.
Mr Abbott said the Coalition needed to be a "sensible centre right government" if it wanted to fend off the inroads One Nation was making into its voter base and improve its position against Labor in the opinion polls.
"We have to sharpen the differences, not minimise them," Mr Abbott told Sky News on Sunday morning, "with a whole hearted and single minded focus."
He noted it was "good we're no longer talking about innovation and agility because, quite frankly, that loses people".
When asked if Mr Turnbull was doing a good job as prime minister, Mr Abbott replied that "there's a sense of prime ministers and governments always needing to do more".
Mr Abbott said improving the state of the budget should be a key issue for the Turnbull government as it ended the political year and suggested revisiting some aspects of the 2014 budget, which contributed to Mr Abbott losing the prime ministership, to give people confidence that it was serious about managing the economy.
Mr Abbott also suggested the Coalition should resurrect the brutal anti-carbon tax campaign it ran in the lead up to the 2013 election and rebadge it to focus on power prices as a point of difference against Labor saying it was a key concern for families and businesses.
Labor's policy of 50 per cent of power supply coming from renewable energy by 2030 was one area where the opposition was "wafting into Greens territory", Mr Abbott said, and warned the recent South Australian blackout was "a taste of things to come" if a Labor government was elected.
Mr Abbott downplayed concerns about global warming saying "although climate change is an issue, it's by no means the most important issue we face".
A return to cabinet?
Mr Abbott made it clear he would like to be a member of the Turnbull cabinet, saying he could work under the man who deposed him as prime minister because "you don't have to idolise someone to be able to work with them".
The "last thing" he wanted to do was "offer public advice to the prime minister", Mr Abbott said, before repeating his previous statements that he is more able to speak on a broad range of topics as a backbencher than he would be if he was a cabinet minister.
Mr Abbott conceded he "could have been a little smoother" as prime minister when it came to managing colleagues and noted there are "one or two things" he did that he should have consulted more widely on.
Same-sex marriage
Mr Abbott also warned Mr Turnbull not to change the Coalition's position on same-sex marriage and allow a conscience vote on the issue without first going to an election.
"If you make a solemn pledge to the people you can't break it," Mr Abbott said.
He said there was public support for the plebiscite because "the public quite likes the idea of being taken seriously for once".
Mr Abbott also confirmed he was writing a new book, saying it would be a manifesto for centre right politics in Australia and come out "when I'm good and ready".
