Australia's political landscape has become more fragmented, amid a "frenetic top-of-the-head environment" and active news cycle, former prime minister John Howard says.
But he isn't blaming the media for Tony Abbott's demise.
The decision by the Liberal Party to dump Mr Abbott on Monday night in favour of Malcolm Turnbull has delivered Australia its fifth prime minister in just five years.
Reflecting on his departure, Mr Abbott on Tuesday said the nature of politics had changed in the past decade with "more polls and more commentary than ever before".
"Mostly sour, bitter, character assassination. Poll driven politics has produced a revolving door prime ministership which can't be good for our country," Mr Abbott said.
"And a febrile media culture has developed that rewards treachery.
"And if there's one piece of advice I can give to the media, it's this: refuse to print self-serving claims that the person making them won't put his or her name to. Refuse to connive with dishonour by acting as the assassin's knife."
But Mr Howard said while there were "differences" in politics brought about by "the more intensive and active media cycle", the media wasn't the reason Mr Abbott's party turned on him.
"I'm not into blaming the media. I hope, generally speaking, I haven't done that in my career because they have a very important role to play in public life," Mr Howard said.
"But I do think we are living in a more super-charged, frenetic top-of-the-head environment."
He said, however, that it was the "entrenched" poor state of the polls that brought about Mr Abbott's departure.
"I do think the major reason the Liberal Party made the change was the state of the polls," Mr Howard said.
"I've said in the past that politics is relentlessly driven by the laws of arithmetic and I do think, if the polls had been different, even to a modest but measurable degree, then there may not have been a change."
