Tony Abbott is building an empire. What’s he playing at?

Tony Abbott has always been under-appreciated in Canberra political reporting. No one in the gallery was particularly surprised when he lost first the leadership and then his seat. Chris Wallace last October dismissed him Saturday Newspaper as one of the party’s crazy uncles — “former senior politicians who can’t help getting involved in political affairs that are no longer theirs.”

But Abbott has become something of a rock star among the Liberal Party base. He’s a busy man, and like all successful new media influencers, he’s building himself a nice portfolio of work.