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Prime Minister Tony Abbott branded himself "a member of the B-team" on Friday, but it was not a wry assessment of his government's recent travails.
During a rare political truce at the opening of an in-patient cancer hospital at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney, Mr Abbott said it was the former Labor government that stumped up the most funding to get the centre built.
"As health minister back in 2007, I was pleased and proud to be able to kick off federal funding of this centre with $10 million," he told the crowd, which included former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek.
"Another government put in some $170 million. I suppose that means that I am a member of the B-team.
"Be there at the start, be there at the finish, but in the meantime let other people do the heavy lifting," he joked.
There had been speculation that the unpopular Mr Abbott, who narrowly survived a leadership challenge this week, would not be welcome in NSW as the Baird government hits the campaign trail ahead of the March 28 election.
Premier Mike Baird also attended the event. His email alert to the media on Friday morning made no mention of Mr Abbott's attendance, and neither man gave a press conference after the event.
It has been a trying 24 hours for Mr Abbott. On Thursday he was forced to apologise for misusing the word 'holocaust' in Parliament, a leading barrister accused him of prejudicing the trial of two terrorism suspects and he was labelled the most incompetent leader of any industrialised democracy by a US think tank.
However on Friday, minds were focused on more meaningful affairs.
"We are here because the fight against cancer matters. Every year about 120,000 Australians receive a cancer diagnosis," Mr Abbott said.
"It is centres like this which mean every year, cancer survival rates improve."
The Camperdown centre opened in 2013 in honour of the late Chris O'Brien, a leading surgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital who died of a brain tumour.
The inpatient facility includes 125 overnight beds, eight operating theatres and an intensive care unit for cancer patients.
Mr Abbott praised the dedication of Professor O'Brien for overcoming bureaucratic resistance, institutional pride and government fiscal pressures "to make this a reality".
Mr Baird said the occasion was beyond politics.
"It's about a day when we come together, and I think that is so powerful," he said.