‘Terrorists… I’m deadly serious’: Bitter dumped prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s extraordinary outburst at the Liberals after being ousted
- Malcolm Turnbull laid into his former party in explosive interview on Thursday
- The former PM said a group in the party ‘essentially operate as terrorists’
- He said they’re willing to blow the government up and referred to leadership spill
- Mr Turnbull was overthrown during the leadership spill in August last year
Dumped former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has delivered an extraordinary outburst about the Liberal Party after being ousted from the country’s top job.
Mr Turnbull, who was dropped in August last year, said members of the party’s conservative right-wing faction ‘essentially operate as terrorists’.
Speaking at a Friends of Wolper Jewish Hospital event on Thursday, Mr Turnbull touched on the moment he was ousted and claimed a ‘group’ are willing to throw the party into chaos, The Australian Jewish News reported.
‘I’m not suggesting that they kill, but I’m being deadly serious here… they have regularly threatened to, and in fact, have been prepared to blow the government up,’ he said.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (left) with Peter Dutton (right). Following recent claims Mr Turnbull offered Mr Dutton a deputy leadership position, Mr Turnbull said that was a ‘complete and utter falsehood’
Mr Turnbull said the conservative wing is one of the Liberal Party’s ‘fundamental problems’.
He recalled the events in the lead-up to the leadership spill in 2018 where he was overthrown as leader, and claimed Finance Minister Mathias Cormann had damaged the government.
Senator Cormann resigned and threw his support behind Peter Dutton during the leadership spill.
‘The week went on and having so much treachery, so much destructiveness, the good thing was that I was able to ensure that Morrison was my successor and not Peter Dutton,’ Mr Turnbull said.
He added that politics is a tough business, especially when your own blood is one the walls.
Mr Turnbull said Mr Dutton asked to be given the role of deputy prime minister, but that would be ‘impossible’.
When the Coalition is in power, the leader of the Nationals serves as deputy prime minister to the Liberal leader as per the agreement between the two parties.
‘Of course I did not offer him the deputy prime ministership. He had expressed an interest in it but it was not mine to offer … This is a complete and utter falsehood, and also an impossibility,’ Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull also laid into his successor Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s (pictured with wife Jenny) idea to move Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
The former leader also laid into his successor Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s idea to move Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The suggestion was floated on the eve of the by-election in Wentworth, which was held to replace Mr Turnbull.
Mr Turnbull said moving the embassy was a ‘really dumb thing’ and claimed the timing was calculated to win support, showing ‘a patronising insensitivity’ to the Australian Jewish community.
Liberal candidate Dave Sharma lost the by-election last year to independent Kerryn Phelps.
Mr Turnbull was not publicly involved in Mr Sharma’s campaign for the by-election and said he didn’t think it was in Mr Sharma’s interests for him to be around.
Mr Sharma went on to defeat Ms Phelps at the Federal Election.
Mr Turnbull (pictured with wife Lucy), who was dropped from the top job in August last year, said members of the Liberal Party’s right-wing faction ‘essentially operate as terrorists’