Kevin Rudd has called for Malcolm Turnbull to quit at the same time his predecessor John Howard has given the prime minister his unqualified support.
Mr Rudd’s comments come just hours after New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro said Mr Turnbull must step down.
Mr Howard called for an end to the ‘madness’ plaguing the Coalition, and pledged his unqualified support for Mr Turnbull.
Kevin Rudd (pictured) has called for Malcolm Turnbull to quit at the same time his predecessor John Howard has given the prime minister his unqualified support
![Mr Rudd's comments come just hours after New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro said Mr Turnbull must step down (pictured is John Howard)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/14/46E0BE4500000578-5136643-image-a-9_1512139971735.jpg)
Mr Rudd’s comments come just hours after New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro said Mr Turnbull must step down (pictured is John Howard)
‘People should take a cold bath and calm down,’ Mr Howard told The Weekend Australian.
‘I continue to support Malcolm Turnbull very strongly. The best option for the Liberal Party is to help make Turnbull’s leadership work and succeed.’
Speaking at a Sydney fundraiser for Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, Mr Rudd expressed the opposite opinion, WA Today reported.
‘Malcolm, for the good of your party and the country, just go. Let the others sort out who should replace you,’ said Mr Rudd.
![Mr Howard called for an end to the 'madness' plaguing the Coalition, and pledged his unqualified support for Mr Turnbull (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/14/46D234C800000578-5136643-image-a-10_1512139974338.jpg)
Mr Howard called for an end to the ‘madness’ plaguing the Coalition, and pledged his unqualified support for Mr Turnbull (pictured)
The former prime minister was scathing when speaking of Mr Turnbull before the gathering of Labor supporters, saying he would get ‘smashed’ at the next election.
‘Turnbull is neither fish nor fowl,’ said Mr Rudd.
‘Turnbull is just Turnbull – standing for nothing apart from Malcolm himself, a profound disappointment to his party, which has now become a little more than a bad joke – just being there.’
![Mr Rudd (pictured, centre with Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen) was scathing when speaking of Mr Turnbull before the gathering of Labor supporters, saying he would get 'smashed' at the next election](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/14/46E0B86600000578-5136643-image-a-11_1512139983383.jpg)
Mr Rudd (pictured, centre with Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen) was scathing when speaking of Mr Turnbull before the gathering of Labor supporters, saying he would get ‘smashed’ at the next election
Earlier on Friday John Barilaro called on Mr Turnbull to quit as prime minister before Christmas.
The state’s Nationals leader said he had lost all hope in Mr Turnbull, describing him as ‘out of touch’ and the reason the federal government is in disarray.
‘Turnbull is the problem. The prime minister is the problem. He should step down and allow for a clean out of what the leadership looks like federally,’ Mr Barilaro told Alan Jones on Sydney’s 2GB radio on Friday.
‘Whoever takes the reins going forward needs to make sure that they put the country and its people first.’
![New South Wales' deputy premier John Barilaro has called on Malcolm Turnbull to quit as prime minister](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/30/23/46D9929A00000578-5134623-image-a-23_1512084934008.jpg)
New South Wales’ deputy premier John Barilaro has called on Malcolm Turnbull to quit as prime minister
![The state's Nationals leader said he had lost all hope on the 'out of touch' prime minister](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/30/23/46D992C100000578-5134623-image-a-24_1512084939401.jpg)
The state’s Nationals leader said he had lost all hope on the ‘out of touch’ prime minister
Mr Turnbull’s claim the Queensland election was not affected by federal issues was ‘a joke’ and comments like that showed a lack of leadership, he said.
‘You’ve got a party in disarray, a coalition government in disarray and a community not unified, and that is all at the feet of the prime minister of Australia,’ Mr Barilaro said.
‘My view is Turnbull should give Australians a Christmas gift and go before Christmas.’
Mr Barilaro said he wasn’t speaking out to endorse Labor leader Bill Shorten, but because Australians were desperate for leadership.
Mr Turnbull brushed off the comments and denied his time was running out.
He suggested the deputy premier made those comments to ‘ingratiate’ himself with Jones and to tell him what he wants to hear.
‘If that was a serious view he held, you would think he would speak to me directly, wouldn’t you?’ he told Neil Mitchell on Melbourne’s 3AW radio.
‘If I had a view about a state leader of that kind, I would express it – if I expressed it at all – privately and face-to-face, I wouldn’t be bagging them in the media like that.’
![Mr Turnbull brushed off the comments and said the deputy premier was trying to boost his own profile with the comments](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/30/23/46D9931400000578-5134623-image-a-21_1512084926919.jpg)
Mr Turnbull brushed off the comments and said the deputy premier was trying to boost his own profile with the comments
The prime minister said Mr Barilaro had made similar comments a little while ago and that he called him and left a message about it, but didn’t get a call back.
‘He’s got my number, he can call me anytime. I’d be delighted to have a chat to him.’
Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann labelled Mr Barilaro’s comments ‘very unhelpful’.
‘Obviously it would’ve been better if he hadn’t,’ he told Sky News.
Mr Barilaro’s boss, Gladys Berejiklian, agreed with Mr Turnbull and hung him out to dry on Friday morning.
‘Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has my full and absolute support,’ the NSW premier said in a statement.
‘Mr Barilaro has expressed a personal view which I do not share. Mr Barilaro is well aware of my position.’
Ms Berejiklian said she looked forward to working with the Turnbull government to deliver better quality lives for the people of NSW.
![Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann labelled Mr Barilaro's comments 'very unhelpful'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/30/23/46D992B500000578-5134623-image-a-25_1512084954063.jpg)
Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann labelled Mr Barilaro’s comments ‘very unhelpful’