Tony Abbott congratulates nationals leader Warren Truss after he announced his retirement in 2016. (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

“It basically means they are giving favours to their friends.”

That's how Monash University senior law lecturer Dr Yee-Fui Ng describes the revelation than 40% of the Abbott-era MPs who left politics were appointed to government jobs.

It's a surprisingly high figure that reflects a lack of integrity in the application process, she told Inq, and raises questions about whether favouritism or cronyism was behind the appointments.