Tony Abbott's return to a senior Liberal Party role may be giving the Coalition fresh energy, but it also carries significant political risk, according to Sky News host Andrew Bolt.
The former prime minister was elected unopposed as federal Liberal Party president last week as the party attempts to rebuild after a series of election defeats and growing competition from Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
Since taking on the role, Mr Abbott has been a constant presence in the media, outlining policy positions and attempting to reconnect the party with voters who have drifted away from the Coalition.
But Bolt argues Mr Abbott's visibility was creating an uncomfortable contrast with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
"Abbott, who is that new management, has been everywhere, unlike leader Angus Taylor, and commanding media attention again, unlike leader, Angus, Taylor," Bolt said on his show on Monday.
The warning comes as the Coalition struggles to regain momentum and One Nation continues to surge in opinion polling.
A recent RedBridge/Accent survey showed One Nation leading on 31 per cent, ahead of Labor on 28 per cent and the Coalition on 20 per cent.
Mr Abbott has argued the polling reflects widespread dissatisfaction with Labor rather than a permanent shift away from the Coalition.
He said more than half of voters now wanted to remove the Albanese government and pointed to the Liberal Party's record on immigration, taxation and energy policy.
Bolt agreed the Liberals needed help after years of political setbacks.
However, he questioned whether Mr Abbott's growing profile was exposing deeper problems inside the party.
"Now, the danger here is not just the Liberals look like going back to the past, to a controversial leader," he said.
"It's that Abbott's strength makes Taylor look weak."
The Sky News host said Mr Abbott was effectively filling a political vacuum by speaking forcefully on issues that many conservative voters care about.
In his first speech after taking the role, Mr Abbott painted a bleak picture of the country's direction and promised the party was ready to fight its way back.
"We are drifting backwards. Our economy is stagnating. Our society is fragmenting. Our security is imperilled. And underneath it all, there is a kind of spiritual malaise," he said on Friday.
"I promise you, we are under new management. We are hungry to win for our country's sake."
The former prime minister has used his return to promote policies including scrapping net zero, reducing migration and removing what he describes as "toxic taxes".
"I'm happy to be back because, as you say, our party has been at a low ebb," Mr Abbott told Nine's Today Show.
"I think that I can help persuade the Australian people that we are fair dinkum about abolishing net zero, scrapping the toxic taxes, ending mass migration, because the last government that did any of that was actually mine."
Mr Abbott has also sought to remind voters of his government's record, arguing it demonstrated the Coalition had previously delivered policies that many voters now want restored.
"It's good that there's a lot less criticism but it's one thing for it to be slowly dawning on more of the political establishment that our energy policy is not working, that our immigration policy is not working," he said.
Bolt said the messaging was unmistakably Mr Abbott's and risked shifting attention away from the current parliamentary leadership.
The concern has already surfaced within Liberal ranks.
During a media appearance on ABC Radio National on Monday, Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson stressed that Mr Taylor remained the party's leader and was responsible for developing policy and presenting the Coalition's vision.
Bolt argued that response highlighted the delicate balancing act now confronting the Liberals.
While he said Mr Abbott remained one of the Coalition's most effective communicators, he suggested the party's reliance on a former prime minister underscored how difficult its current position had become.
"It's true that Abbott insists the real Liberal leader is Angus Taylor, and Abbott is just there in the Liberal office overseeing donations and campaigns," Bolt said.
"But he says that while it's actually campaigning and talking policy."
For Bolt, the bigger challenge extends beyond personalities.
He argued many voters who have shifted to One Nation remain sceptical of the Coalition after years of policy compromises on issues such as migration, spending and net zero.
"And still Abbott is needed because the Liberals are so weak and for years betrayed their values," he said.
Speaking to Sky News on Monday, the former prime minister denied his appointment as party president was a "re-launch" of his political career.
Mr Abbott said the reason he assumed the role was because "I think our country is in a bad way and our party needs to revive if our country is to survive".
"It will take hard work. What we need now is more members, good candidates, better and more effective fundraising," he said.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Mr Abbott was a man who is "out of touch" with mainstream Australia.
"Tony Abbott was a disastrous prime minister. He's completely out of touch with views of mainstream Australia," Mr Bowen said.
"Every call that Tony Abbott has made, he's gotten wrong.
"This is not a step forward for the Liberal Party becoming a party of a modern future looking young Australia."
