Roundup: Former Aussie PM's chief of staff denies Abbott affair rumor

Peta Credlin, chief of staff to former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has on Tuesday broken her silence over claims she was engaged in an intimate relationship with the married Abbott during his tenure as prime minister.

Credlin lashed out at rumors spread by high-profile political journalist Niki Savva, labeling them as "malicious" and "completely false", and slammed the book Savva wrote about the destruction of the Abbott government as "bile."

The book, "Road to Ruin" did not directly allege that Abbott -- a staunch Christian -- was engaging in extra-marital affairs with his chief of staff, however Savva's writing did quote a number of Liberal colleagues, who said they witnessed Credlin and Abbott getting comfortable with each other on more than one occasion.

"Sadly it seems that modern politics is gossip from unnamed sources," Credlin wrote in an opinion piece on Tuesday.

"Niki Savva's attacks were personal, invariably founded on unsourced gossip and rarely made any attempt at balance."

Credlin also lamented the fact that Savva did not directly approach her for comment in the lead up to the release of the book, something which has drawn criticism from others within Canberra circles.

Rumors of the affair surfaced last week after excerpts of the book were published by media outlets, something which prompted Abbott to release a statement labeling the allegations as "scurrilous gossip", while he also defended Credlin as his choice of chief of staff.

"I'm not in the business of raking over old coals, nor am I in the business of responding to scurrilous gossip and smear," Abbott said in a statement released on Monday.

Meanwhile Credlin also noted that Savva's husband is a current staffer in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's office -- the same office which helped Turnbull oust Abbott from the leadership in September last year.

Savva's book, Road to Ruin, was published on Monday. Endit