Tony Abbott has flown to Port Moresby where he will meet Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and a group of Australian Federal Police officers deployed to the Pacific nation during his time as prime minister.
Mr Abbott – whose presence outside cabinet as a high-profile and increasingly vocal backbencher has become a potentially dangerous point of friction inside the Turnbull government – also delivered a speech to a fundraising dinner for Anglicare PNG during his 48-hour visit.
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Abbott in the headlines again
An ally of the former PM says he should be placed on the frontbench causing another political stir.
Mr Abbott told Fairfax Media he would reflect on the Abbott government's foreign and security policy achievements as they relate to PNG in his speech, but rejected any suggestion he is running a "parallel prime ministership" by sitting down with the leader of Australia's nearest neighbour.
As Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull has not yet visited PNG, host to Australia's asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island. He has met Mr O'Neill at the Pacific Islands Forum.
"Peter O'Neill has asked to see me while I'm there," Mr Abbott said as he prepared to depart from Sydney Airport on Wednesday.
"Former prime ministers will typically meet with people they had close associations and relationships with in government. John Howard meets with leaders he worked with during his time while he is overseas. This is just the way of things."
Mr Abbott, who visited PNG a week before Mr Turnbull led a party room coup against his leadership, said of Mr O'Neill: "We had a very close relationship and I would be confident that will continue under Malcolm."
Mr Abbott's trip is likely to trigger comparisons between the foreign policy priorities of his government and Mr Turnbull's.
"I visited PNG three times in two years," Mr Abbott said. "While it is not normally front of mind for most Australians, and often not an area of focus for the nation, it's our nearest neighbour, our only former colony, and it can have a big impact on Australia.
"We often forget that Australia is the one superpower in the South Pacific and we have a huge responsibility in the region."
Mr Abbott did not flag his visit with Mr Turnbull's office.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said ministers were obliged to seek authorisation to meet foreign leaders, but MPs and senators could do so without without seeking prior approval outside a sitting week of Parliament, when the government whip needed to be informed.
Mr Abbott met Lee Hsien Loong during the Singapore Prime Minister's Australian visit last month.
Mr Abbott said he would "drop by" the group of 70 AFP officers who are stationed in Port Moresby as advisers to the Royal PNG Constabulary on maintaining law and order in the notoriously volatile nation.
He declined to make any comment on the controversy sparked this week by his close friend Cate McGregor who, in a newspaper column authorised by Mr Abbott, recommended Mr Turnbull bring his predecessor back into cabinet in the interests of stability in the Coalition.
Ms McGregor pinpointed the Indigenous affairs portfolio as an appropriate ministry to redeploy Mr Abbott in the executive.
Leaked government speaking notes revealed last week that Mr Turnbull's office described the pair's relationship as a "war".
Since losing the leadership just over a year ago, Mr Abbott has had a busy schedule, including speaking engagements in Britain and the United States, and has spearheaded a push for reform of the NSW Liberal Party among other causes of his Right faction.
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