Tony Abbott has compared himself to Donald Trump, saying it's easier now for political outsiders than insiders to win elections.
The former prime minister has written an afterword in a new book, Abbott's Right, by lawyer Damien Freeman, which reflects on the ex-Liberal leader's legacy and what it means to be conservative in modern Australia.
Outlining his successes as a minister and national leader, Mr Abbott says he's confident the conservative tradition is "well understood and appreciated by the rising generation of Liberal MPs".
He says politicians "who are more talk than action inevitably get found out".
Mr Abbott argues successful democratic politicians are "those who most closely reflect the people's current mood and contemporary values".
"In an era of thwarted expectations, it's easier for outsiders than insiders to win elections," he writes.
"This helped me in 2013.
"The insider versus outsider dynamic was clearly at work in the Brexit referendum result. It certainly helped Donald Trump in the 2016 United States election."
Mr Abbott says it remains a great source of pride to have led "a government so firmly in the conservative tradition".
"No one could accuse it of pandering to political correctness or lacking political courage."
On the issue of the same-sex marriage plebiscite, he admits a conservative "would not lightly have the people decide something that's clearly within the power of the parliament".
"(But) sometimes one value must defer to another, and respect for the parliament might indeed give way to a preference for democracy, especially in considering one of our society's foundational principles."
