There's no stopping Super Tony
It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's Super Tony.
The prime minister is a naturally energetic bloke, but this week - perhaps energised by his political near-death experience - he's been almost manic.
On Tuesday he had a women's breakfast and a party room meeting. He announced a new troop commitment to Iraq and presided over the last rites for the GP co-payment.
And that was just the public stuff, and just the stuff he did before question time, which he largely dominated after walking into the chamber in comradely fashion with Malcolm Turnbull. In that session, apart from his usual Labor-baiting, he usurped the Speaker and provided a rare mea culpa.
Abbott chose to detail the troop commitment - which he'd announced a few minutes earlier at a news conference - via a question from his own side.
That upset Bill Shorten, who'd expected a prime ministerial statement which would have allowed him equal time to reply.
He tried to read his statement-in-reply anyway, but soon fell foul of Bronwyn Bishop who, technically correctly, told him it couldn't be done in question time.
As a nasty stand-off started to develop, Abbott intervened. He didn't want the rare flower of bipartisanship over Iraq threatened by a procedural wrangle.
So he overruled Bishop and launched into a self-declared statement which included the rather macho "I can't go out and fight with our soldiers ... but I try at least to sweat with them."
Shorten was then allowed his reply, and on that matter, if nothing else, the two sides were at peace.
The GP co-payment which, after various operations and amputations was finally taken off life support, was a different matter.
Labor, which had done very nicely attacking the unpopular policy, was the chief mourner and it spent a lot of time trying to give the impression that the government would sneak it back.
Abbott was having none of that. "Dead, buried and cremated," he declared, repeating the formula he used when Labor ran scare campaigns about the return of Work Choices.
The PM was also happy to accept the blame for the Medicare debacle.
As a former health minister, he confessed, he should have known such a measure needed the strong co-operation and support of doctors.
"I accept chastisement," he said, though he didn't look as if his hair shirt was causing him any pain.
