To the conservative, no act of Tony Abbott’s prime ministership quite became him as the manner of his leaving it, only two years and two days after taking office. There was an almost short speech. There was an apologia. There was reference to the first Christian sermon preached in Australia and based on Psalm 116:12, ‘What shall I render unto the Lord for all his blessings to me?’ There was a certain nobility in Abbott’s leaving, albeit accompanied by media obituaries not just for the man but also for Australian conservatism, as if Abbott were the old soldier laying up the right’s colours in the regimental chapel (if not, as much of the assembled media seemed to desire, the disgraced colonel retiring to the back shed with a service revolver).

It is hard for conservatives not to see the Abbott prime ministership as a missed opportunity. Even Julia Gillard had a longer time in office than did Tony Abbott. Yet I would argue that Australian conservatism has a just cause, a successful history, and that the times will again suit Australian conservatism.