Meet Niki Savva, the journalist who went from receiving gushing texts from Tony Abbott to savaging the former prime minister and his relationship with Peta Credlin in her explosive new book

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Not long before Niki Savva published a book that laid bare the dysfunction of Tony Abbott's government, the pair would gossip over cups of tea in his private office. He would text her, cheerfully praising her newspaper columns ('Niki, good piece and got a good chuckle from the cartoon. Cheers, Tony').

But after she slammed Mr Abbott for his 'weird, psychologically dependent' relationship with his chief aide Peta Credlin this week, no doubt their days of chats over a 'cuppa' are over. And the only texts Abbott's camp are sending are demands for her to be sacked from her newspaper job.

So just who is this plugged-in Liberal Party insider who - after reporting rumours of an affair between Mr Abbott and Ms Credlin in her book Road to Ruin - has caused such an earthquake in the political world?

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Woman of the moment: Niki Savva (pictured) worked for Treasurer Peter Costello for six years and as a political journalist in Canberra for decades prior to writing her explosive book

She started working as a political journalist in February 1974, during the height of Gough Whitlam's prime ministership (pictured)

Niki Savva was born in Choli, a small, remote village in Cyprus. Like thousands of Greek migrants, her parents moved the family to Australia in the early 1950s

Savva has worked at the highest levels of journalism and politics for more than 40 years. She filed acres of column inches working with legendary journalist Laurie Oakes and later toiled away as Treasurer Peter Costello's press secretary for six years. 

But she comes from humble roots. Born in Choli, a small village in remote Cyprus, her parents Elpiniki and Andreas joined thousands of Greek migrants in hopping on boats to Australia in the early 1950s. Andreas came first, on his own, and later managed to buy a ticket for the rest of his family to follow him to a better life in Melbourne's outer suburbs.

Growing up as part of the 'Gringlish' speaking community, Ms Savva joked in her memoirs about how, as a little girl, she had a better mastery of English than her parents. She remembered how they asked her to translate a telegram from Greece for them when she was eight-years-old.

Her language skills proved helpful. Savva cut her teeth in journalism with a $26-a-week cadetship at the Dandenong Journal, the local newspaper. And in February 1974, she began her long march towards becoming one of Canberra's most well-regarded figures.

She scored a job as a political reporter at The Australian, one of the country's biggest newspapers, where she described her job as getting ministers to 'blab'. It was one in a long line of press gallery jobs. 

Despite eventually becoming one of his key aides, in an earlier memoir she revealed some of her biggest scoops came from being tough on future prime minister John Howard. Savva was proudest of a story where she convinced Mr Howard to admit he had got his tax policy wrong.

'I asked John Howard three times whether, as leader, he accepted responsibility for the error,' she recalled in the book So Greek. 'I finally got the answer I wanted... It was a killer. 

'They hung the posters of that front page (which read 'Howard: My Sums Wrong') at ALP campaign headquarters'. 

Ms Savva (front row, second from left) is pictured with various press gallery staffers during her time as a political journalist

When a family crisis began to complicate her life as political journalist, in the late 1990s she jumped the fence and became one of Peter Costello's top staffers. Later, she worked for John Howard, the nation's second-longest service prime minister, guiding him through some of his final years.

As a reporter and a staffer she has come face-to-face with all the biggest names in politics over the past 40 years, including young up-and-comer Tony Abbott and her husband, Vincent Woolcock. Mr Woolcock has worked for every Liberal leader since Billy Sneddon. 

And as Peta Credlin pointed out this week, he is currently working for the latest one, Malcolm Turnbull, who hired him as a staffer shortly after Abbott was turfed last September.

A furious Ms Credlin wrote in The Australian: ‘I felt my 16 years of service to four Howard cabinet ministers and time in opposition, including as deputy chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull, said more about my record than any bile from Savva…’ 

Ms Savva is now a prominent columnist and regularly appears on political shows on Sky and the ABC

She is pictured here during an appearance on the ABC Insiders show with political journalists Malcolm Farr, Mark Riley and Barrie Cassidy

Former prime minister Tony Abbott used to have 'cuppas' with Niki Savva, but she's unlikely to be invited back

Not happy: Peta Credlin - one of the major characters in Ms Savva's book - said it was filled with 'vicious and malicious claims'. She also pointed out Ms Savva's husband works for Malcolm Turnbull

Credlin continued: 'I accept that much of this post-leadership critique is politically motivated and driven by warring Liberal Party camps. Although Savva’s husband works for Turnbull, I don’t believe this attack would have the Prime Minister’s support.'

But, by all indications Ms Savva - who has written many scathing columns about Abbott and Credlin - doesn’t care much for the attacks on her and her husband’s credibility.

In an article firing back at Ms Credlin on Thursday, she noted how long she had been in the political game - something there is little doubt about.

‘Paul Keating (once) claimed on radio I wrote what my husband told me. Privately, he called me a Tory b****,' she wrote, before reflecting upon her decades of experience. 

'So spare me the lectures about ethics, dignity, appropriate behaviour, loyalty or veracity from those who arrived, relatively speaking, a matter of minutes ago’.

Ms Savva's husband Vincent Woolcock is on staff for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull