Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he does not believe the coalition is in danger of hubris, as he took a dig over the Gillard-Rudd leadership rift.
Former prime minister John Howard on Monday night delivered a pep talk to coalition MPs as he unveiled new photo portraits of Liberal leaders in Parliament House.
"This is our history. Treasure it, extol it, defend it, propound it," Mr Howard said.
Mr Howard also told the function that Labor's complaining about the coalition being too negative meant that Mr Abbott and his team were being "very, very effective".
The address came as a Newspoll showed the coalition 10 points ahead of Labor on a two-party basis.
Asked whether the coalition was in danger of hubris, Mr Abbott said: "I certainly wouldn't put it that way."
"I'm grateful for praise," he said, taking a dig at the leadership rift between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.
"I think it's good in the coalition we were able to invite our last prime minister to address a function. I'm afraid Ms Gillard was not in that position herself."
Ms Gillard is under fire over a claim her staffers drafted a victory speech in 2010 two weeks before she led a coup against Mr Rudd.
Mr Abbott said he wrote his own speeches.
"I am very lucky. I have very good staff and they do a lot of research for me but I write the speech."
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