Federal Liberals have given a lukewarm response to former treasurer Josh Frydenberg's mooted return to politics, with one colleague saying the party cannot afford to wait for him to "save us", and One Nation's Barnaby Joyce urging him to "cut the BS" over his ambitions.
Promoting his memoir with a media blitz during a parliamentary sitting week, Mr Frydenberg insisted he had been "very content" after losing his seat of Kooyong but stopped short of ruling out a comeback.
"I think everyone misses the cut and thrust of politics once they leave," he told Radio National Breakfast.
Mr Frydenberg lost the blue-ribbon Melbourne seat nearly five years ago as part of the teal wave which also claimed seats like Goldstein from the Liberals.
Asked if he would recontest Kooyong, now held by independent Monique Ryan, Mr Frydenberg said he had not "made any decision about my political future" but admitted he had maintained "many very close relationships" with local Liberal members.
Mr Joyce, a One Nation MP who was elected on a Nationals ticket, said it was clear his former colleague was angling for a future anointment as leader of the opposition.
"Let's cut the BS, mate. We can all see through this," he said.
Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume said she would welcome Mr Frydenberg back but made it clear his position would be "behind Angus Taylor".
"We'd like to see our A team line up on the front bench," she said.
Reaction within the wider Liberal cohort was mixed, with Queensland MP Garth Hamilton arguing the focus should be on rebuilding rather than speculation about a Frydenberg comeback.
"The only comeback I'm interested in seeing at the moment is Powderfinger," he told Afternoon Briefing.
MP Simon Kennedy welcomed Mr Frydenberg's contribution but warned the opposition could not wait for him to "save us".
"We have to hold this Labor government to account now," he said.
Nationals MP and former party leader David Littleproud said Ms Ryan was "finished" if Mr Frydenberg decided to put his name on the ballot in Kooyong.
"I think Josh has a huge contribution to make, and I hope that he runs," he said.
Frydenberg says he supports Angus Taylor
In excerpts from Mr Frydenberg's book, he urged the Liberal Party to "reclaim" the centre of politics, arguing there was a lack of political courage in Canberra.
But Mr Frydenberg said on Tuesday he supported Angus Taylor and his frontbench, despite litigating the "need for us to change".
"I support Angus and the team, it's a tough job", he said.
Mr Frydenberg writes in the book that the Liberal Party had become "obsessed with who is leading it, rather than who could be voting for it".
"We as a party hold very few of the metropolitan seats which dominate the political landscape in Australia and that's what we need to win back is part of a broader strategy to get back to government," he said.
He also pitched several policy changes, which included having a "national debate about lifting the GST".
That idea has found few friends with Mr Taylor and even Jess Wilson, a former staffer to Mr Frydenberg and now the Liberal leader in Victoria, ruling it out.
"The last thing Victorians need is to see the price of everything go up, so I don't support it," Ms Wilson said.
Ms Wilson is about six weeks away from a hotly contested state election in which cost of living has been a central element.
New South Wales Liberal leader Kellie Sloane would not rule out a change to GST, but said she would fight to get a fair deal for her state.
Federal Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan said it was wrong to consider hiking taxes during a cost-of-living crisis.
"What you need to be doing [is] reducing taxes and reducing spending," he said.
