Is Tony Abbott about to launch his own Ides of March strike?

How else to explain Wednesday's extraordinary interview with conservative commentator Andrew Bolt in which he unloaded on the government as "drifting to defeat" and set out a plan which he claims would correct the Coalition's poor standing in the polls, and haemorrhaging of votes to One Nation? [Sky News]

He recorded the interview before delivering a blistering critique of the Turnbull government in a speech launching a collection of essays called Making Australia Right. [Full speech] [James Massola/Fairfax]

"The gloves are off," observed Bolt. [Herald Sun]

With Parliament due back next week this could boil over and that may be what Abbott intends. Ironically, it would come off the back of the best two weeks Turnbull has had in the job although as Michelle Grattan notes, the government's gains from Turnbull's bullish attack on Shorten have been so far minimal if at all. [The Conversation]

If Abbott believes he has the numbers in the partyroom, which is tired of his unhelpful interventions, to make a comeback he possess a greater lack of self-awareness than we've previously appreciated.

One Twitter follower whimsically observed that for someone who hates Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott spends a lot of time copying him. Funny indeed but to me this looks more like the mimicry of another former Labor leader - Simon Crean, when he took it upon himself to challenge Julia Gillard for the leadership as a way of blowing open Kevin Rudd's destabilisation of Gillard.

The move was disastrous for Crean. Rudd sat tight, Crean didn't have a hope and was sacked from Cabinet. His career never recovered and he resigned from parliament in 2013.

Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Colleagues think its possible that Abbott is about to embark on a "suicide bomber" mission. The eventual successor, intended or otherwise, could be Peter Dutton, who as Immigration Minister gets a tough hearing in the media but has been quietly gaining support internally. This is largely because he was not part of the mission to install Turnbull but has proved himself a reliable Cabinet colleague of the PM, despite being the leading conservative in the lower house.

The fraccas over whether or not the deal with the US to take our asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru is a people swap or not (it clearly is as Australia is accepting refugees from Costa Rica) is not the dunderhead mistake from Dutton (who said as much with Bolt this week) that some people are making it out to be.

It was deliberate. He is signalling that he is a straight-talking conservative and that he understands voters are sick of political sophistry and pretence. Although he was the one who ended up backing down after being "corrected" by Julie Bishop, Dutton's willingness to speak plainly could see him awarded the eventual political victory because he gets marks internally and externally for saying what voters already know is true.

Treasurer Scott Morrison. Photo: Andrew Meares

Bolt targeted this when he put to Abbott that Dutton describes as "conservative, plain-speaking and loyal," adding "unlike Julie Bishop." Abbott laughed and didn't disagree.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson rubs his head as his Australian counterpart Foreign Minister Julie Bishop inspects his mug which reads 'Foreign Secretary'. Photo: Jack Taylor

When I put this to Bishop who was in London today, she hit back, saying her loyalty as Deputy is to the partyroom which elects her ie. not a dud leader. [My report/Fairfax]

What should also not be missed is that during Bolt and Abbott's love-in on Sky it was notable who was not mentioned - Scott Morrison. He was once seen as an heir to the leadership but has floundered in the Treasury role.

But there's no guarantee of what will happen if Abbott presses the thermo-nuclear button. Remember when Crean blew himself up it reinforced Gillard's position for a few more months longer.

But change or no change, Julie Bishop will go down as the "forever undefeated" No 2. writes Graham Richardson. [The Australian]

2. Aust politics - the rest of

Donald Trump reportedly accused Malcolm Turnbull of trying to send the US the "next Boston bomber." Photo: AP

Attempts are being made for Turnbull to meet Trump in New York in May for what would be the two leaders' first meeting. [Peter Hartcher/Fairfax]

Overnight Turnbull spoke with Prime Minister Theresa May about the Middle East and Brexit. Interestingly, Julie Bishop is ad odds with May over the future of Syria's Bashar al-Assad with May saying he must go, but Bishop saying the world's moved on from that view.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson with his Australian counterpart Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Photo: Getty Images

Bishop spoke to reporters in London after meeting Boris Johnson who expressed both views recently. [My report/Fairfax]

Indonesian President Joko Widodo will propose joint patrols of the South China Sea during his visit to Australia this weekend. [Amanda Hodge/The Australian]

Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry on why we should outsource climate policy to the business sector because politics is broken is a fascinating read. [Laura Tingle/Financial Review]

Henry's frustrations with the political tribalism are spot on, says David Crowe. [The Australian]

Benjamin Netanyahu visiting Moriah College in Queens Park, Sydney. Photo: Renee Nowtarger

Former Labor Leader Kim Beazley does not back recognising Palestine, putting him at odds with Kevin Rudd (no surprises there) but also Bob Hawke, Bob Carr and Gareth Evans. [Paul Maley/The Australian]

A group of sitting Labor MPs, many long supporters of Palestine, are calling for recognition of Palestine, making Bill Shorten's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today a little awkward. [Fergus Hunter/Fairfax]

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

The FWC's ruling is backed by The Sydney Morning Herald, often accused of being left-wing by right-wing MPs. [Editorial]

"Hallelujah!" cries the Financial Review. [Editorial]

And Bill Shorten is the politician who made it happen, applauds The Australian. [Editorial]

3. Mosul Airport

Smoke rises after an airstrike near Mosul earlier this week. Photo: The Canadian Press/ AP

Iraqi forces took just hours to reclaim Mosul airport from Islamic State. [Reuters]

And again I really can't recommend Quentin Sommerville's live-tweeting of the operation to take back Mosul enough.

@sommervillebbc

4. UK migration

David Cameron in June after formally resigning as prime minister. Photo: AP

David Cameron would have died for these figures. He would probably still be Prime Minister if the sharp drop in net migration had been recorded 12 months ago, ahead of the EU referendum.

But the 49,000 fall in net migration is most likely the result of Brexit with a substantial number of EU migrants heading home to live after Britain turned its back on the EU.

But the overall figure of net migration of 273,000 is still well above the "tens of thousands" figure the conservatives want. [The Guardian]

And two important byelections to watch in the UK with results due around lunchtime Australian time. [Adam Payne/Business Insider]

5. US Politics

The US Congress is not sitting this week and representatives are back in their home states, where Republicans in particular are feeling the full force of some of their constituents' fears and anger about Donald Trump's election. The party's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act - known as Obamacare - has been one of the biggest issues in the series of rowdy town hall meetings sweeping the country. [Fairfax]

Here's one Republican senator, Tom Cotton, being confronted about the potential loss of health insurance by a constituent in Akansas, who says she will die without coverage.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is underway in Maryland today. Former Breitbart chairman and Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon will appear during a joint session with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus at 1pm local time (5am AEDT).

6. TIGERS IN SNOW!!!

TIGERS. SNOW. DRONES. I repeat. TIGERS. SNOW. DRONES.

I just died.

And that's it from me for this week, you can follow me on Facebook for more. Have a great weekend.

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