Malcolm Turnbull needs a solution to his Tony Abbott problem and fast. That problem is not retaining the votes of party room colleagues but those of conservative voters.
While MPs and ministers believe Abbott was the main casualty of last week's explosive attack, many also feel the situation should not be allowed to fester, nor can Turnbull afford to simply limp forward until the next Abbott landmine.
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If Turnbull had ever been tempted to elevate his nemesis to cabinet to keep him close and busy, as Julia Gillard did with Kevin Rudd, Abbott has now made that option unthinkable.
At ministerial level, Abbott's declared intent to continue speaking up for core conservative values is viewed with a surprising degree of equanimity. A common theme is a determination to ignore him and to "just get on with governing".
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Ministers console themselves that Abbott has killed off any lingering party room support he had – or, as one put it, "there's just him and Eric [Abetz] now, this was the full stop on his support".
Another joked that "at least the PLO had recognised Israel's right to exist", referring to Abbott's seething anger at Turnbull's backers and his now well-aired view that the Prime Minister is a centre-left imposter atop a centre-right party.
At the electoral coalface, there's more alarm. One backbencher noted that as a former PM Abbott's comments would always be reportable.
Abbott's closest confidant Peta Credlin counsels against assuming he wants the top job again, arguing creatively that he is merely trying to hold lifelong Liberal supporters being tempted by One Nation.
If so, attacking the credibility of the leadership and branding the show "Labor lite" is a bizarre way to do it. Plainly he is arming conservatives with both the arguments and the moral licence to leave.
Rudd's "unthinkable" reprieve notwithstanding, almost no one believes Abbott can get the leadership back and it is likely that even he recognises this reality.
But in such a mode, Abbott may be more dangerous to Turnbull and to the coterie of turncoats who "betrayed" him, because he is more reckless if he isn't courting support for himself.
Revenge would be taking back the prime ministership. But tearing down Turnbull in favour of a proper conservative? That would be restorative justice. No, it's not revenge he's after, it's a reckoning.
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