Christopher Pyne 'fit as a fiddle' weeks after major heart surgery

Christopher Pyne has assured he is "fit as a fiddle" after undergoing major surgery on his heart earlier this month.

The former defence minister stunned everyone last week when he posted on social media he was in recovery and was thankful to have been given a second chance at life .

"I had bypass surgery about two and a half weeks ago and it was a nasty shock, but I am recovering well and it's amazing what people can do these days," Pyne told Today.

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"I have pretty bad family genes. My father died of a heart attack at 59, so I am very lucky I've got two lovely new arteries and I'm going to be around for a long time to come."

Pyne was elected as federal MP of Sturt in 1993 at just 25 years old and held the role his entire political career.

He retired after 26 years in politics at the 2019 federal election, after serving as the defence minister and leader of the house under former prime minister Scott Morrison from 2018 to 2019.

In his time in parliament, he also held several portfolios including education and training minister, industry, innovation and science minister and ageing minister.

Hear the full chat with Christopher Pyne and Wayne Swan in the video above