'My government wasn't perfect,' Abbott told Saturday Extra. 'I think it was a good government. I think it's given the Turnbull government an excellent record to take into the campaign, but plainly you don't get rolled after two years in the top job if you're perfect.
I said it was baddies vs baddies then, what's obvious now is that it's baddies vs worsies.
The former prime minister also rebutted suggestions that he was too close to his chief of staff Peta Credlin and former treasurer Joe Hockey, and that dumping them could have saved his leadership.
'When you start sacking key personnel you usually make a bad situation worse,' he said. 'There were lots of things that with the wisdom of hindsight could have been done differently and better.'
Defending the 2014 budget
Hindsight has not changed Abbott's view of the unpopular 2014 federal budget, however. 'I regret that more of it wasn't passed,' he said. 'It was a very significant reforming budget.
'But while many key measures weren't passed, a lot of good was done by that budget. It was the foundation of the budget repair work that the Abbott-Turnbull government has done.'
Abbott singled out the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which looks set to provide the Turnbull government with a double dissolution trigger, as a key legacy of his time in office, calling the ABCC an 'excellent bit of public policy'.
The former PM also dismissed calls for a royal commission into the banks, brushing aside comparisons between the finance and construction industries.
'There's a world of difference between the two sectors,' he said. 'Sure, there are some things that go wrong in all sectors. But there is a watchdog in place, a strong and effective watchdog already in the banking sector.
'There is no strong and effective watchdog in place in the construction sector. That's the fundamental difference.'
Freedom of navigation in the South China Sea
Since leaving office, Abbott has given a number of speeches outlining his foreign policy vision. In February he gave a speech in Tokyo, saying that China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea was threatening the stability and security of the region, and backing freedom of navigation patrols in conjunction with the US Navy.
That view is shared by opposition defence spokesperson Stephen Conroy, former Labor leader Kim Beazley and former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans.
'I obviously endorse the position of the government that we believe that territorial disputes in the South China Sea should be settled peacefully and within international law,' Abbott said.
'We deplore unilateral alterations to the status quo. One of the things that is not often remarked upon is the environmental damage that must be happening of all of these massive constructions. The environmental damage of what's happening there must be extraordinary.'
The fight against Islamic State
The former prime minister has been a consistent backer of greater Australian and international involvement in Syria and Iraq.
Though in 2013 he referred to the conflict as being 'baddies vs baddies', he now believes the situation has changed and that a greater use of force is necessary to destroy Islamic State.
'What's happened since then is that the most extraordinary, the most barbaric, the most vicious, the most bloodthirsty development we've seen, perhaps in centuries has unfolded in parts of Syria and Iraq. I said it was baddies vs baddies then, what's obvious now is that it's baddies vs worsies.
'If the Australian government were to choose to do more in concert with our allies, obviously they'd be getting no arguments from me.
'Our fundamental objective is to defeat and destroy this caliphate as soon as possible. As long as this caliphate exists it is inspiring people to do evil things right around the world. The caliphate was the inspiration, it seems, for the three brushes with terrorism we've had here in Australia so far.'
Staying in parliament
Abbott is only the second PM since Gough Whitlam to remain in Parliament after being deposed, the first being Kevin Rudd. So is Rudd, who proved a destabilising influence on the Gillard government, an unlikely role model?
'Absolutely not, absolutely not,' he said. 'I will certainly be working hard for the election of the Turnbull government. Obviously I'm first and foremost the candidate for Warringah.'
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