Australian Conservatives were told by Liberal Party pollster Mark Textor they had nowhere else to go when they expressed their dismay at the overthrow of PM Tony Abbott. This was despite Conservatives being incensed that a duly elected Prime Minister was taken down during their first term in a startling repeat of Labor’s arrogant hubris.

Whatever the flaws of the Abbott government, I remarked at the time of the coup that the transaction cost of such a move would be felt for a long time to come.