Tony Abbott to step down from Advance role when elected Liberal party federal president
Tony Abbott will step down from his role advising the rightwing advocacy group, Advance, as the conservative ideologue prepares for his high-profile role as the Liberal party’s new federal president.
Tony Abbott will step down from his role advising the rightwing advocacy group, Advance, as the conservative ideologue prepares for his high-profile role as the Liberal party’s new federal president.
Liberal insiders have also shared concerns Abbott is considering Advance’s director, Matthew Sheahan, or Steve Doyle – who runs Whitestone Strategic, the consultancy group that supports its operations – to fill the vacant federal director position, warning it could dismantle what is left of the party’s identity.
Since being ousted by the independent MP Zali Steggall at the 2019 federal election, the former prime minister has lent his political nous to a number of rightwing and conservative groups within Australia and around the world.
Abbott has sat on Advance’s advisory board since at least January 2023, when the ABC first reported the association.
He also holds roles or honorary affiliations with the Institute of Public Affairs and the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, as well as board positions for the Fox Corporation and the UK climate sceptic group the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
But his post-parliamentary stint at Advance is expected to end imminently as he formally returns to the party machine in its top “back-office” role as federal president.
An Advance spokesperson told Guardian Australia: “Mr Abbott has informed us that he will be stepping down from the Advance advisory board upon election as federal president of the Liberal party”.
As the sole nominator for the position – after the former foreign minister Alexander Downer chose to instead run for one of the vice-president’s positions – Abbott is guaranteed to be elected.
Guardian Australia contacted Abbott to ask whether his ties to overseas groups, such as the Danube Institute and the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, would continue after he is formally elected on Friday. He did not respond to the questions.
As the conservative “answer” to the left-wing advocacy group Get Up, Advance has backed rightwing political causes in its campaigns since 2019. While Advance claims not to support a particular political party, the Liberal party’s investment vehicle, the Cormack Foundation, donated $500,000 to the group ahead of the 2025 federal election.
Advance’s target in the 2025 federal election was the Greens, but some Liberal-aligned commentators criticised the group’s strategy as inadvertently supporting Labor’s success.
In its most recent financial report, Advance said it determined “the Coalition was ill-equipped to effectively contest the election, lacking the modern sophisticated campaign infrastructure required to seriously challenge Labor”.
Abbott’s role as an advisory board member with the firebrand lobby group has caused consternation among some Liberal members and insiders, who pointed Guardian Australia to its direct attacks on Liberals.
“I won’t even call them frenemies; they were actively denigrating the Liberal party,” one said.
Another MP said Advance’s attacks on the party, which included singling out some of its more moderate members, were “hysterical and beyond the pale”.
“Many of us believe this is simply playing into the hands of One Nation,” they said, suggesting any moves by Abbott to push the party further to the right would backfire.
A number of Liberal insiders said the former prime minister could surprise many and be a unifying leader, reluctant to outshine the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, publicly.
But others are worried Abbott’s interest in bringing Advance campaigners, like Sheahan and Doyle, into the Liberal fold to replace the outgoing director, Andrew Hirst, will make the party even more unelectable in metropolitan areas next federal election.
A third MP said: “[Advance] do Advance stuff very well, but that stuff, it goes into race. It’s not for a governing political party … and it shouldn’t be anywhere near us.
“I’m worried about it, and others are too.
“There’s a lot of nervousness because if we don’t get a good campaign director that can run a nationally balanced campaign, we could be in more strife.”
Guardian Australia contacted both Sheahan and Doyle about whether they had been contacted about the role of federal director.
