Malcolm Turnbull is branded a ‘complete and utter nark’ who ‘doesn’t have a legacy’

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has has been slammed as a a ‘complete and utter nark’ for his attack on Scott Morrison..

Radio shock jock Ray Hadley flung a brutal putdown in defence of his friend the current prime minister, who was called a liar by Mr Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull called Mr Morrison ‘shameful’ and ‘duplicitous’ over his behaviour towards France when scrapping a $90 billion submarine deal. 

‘He’s always been a liar,’ Mr Turnbull said, while attending the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Wednesday.  

 

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has copped a spray from radio personality Ray Hadley, who was defending his friend Scott Morrison

An awkward handshake in Rome between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left)

An awkward handshake in Rome between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left)

But on Sydney’s 2GB station, Mr Hadley opened fire, calling Mr Turnbull a ‘complete and utter nark’ and accusing him of ‘siding’ with France and against Australia.  

‘[Malcolm Turnbull] doesn’t have a legacy, as far as I’m concerned that’s gone,’ Mr Hadley told his listeners.

‘An unwanted nuisance, that’s what Malcolm’s been in Glasgow… you’re just a nark, a complete and utter nark.’

But then Mr Hadley’s language got cruder: ‘You’re a whinging, complaining nark who needs to shut up… some would say, “shut the f**k up”.’

Mr Turnbull hit out at Mr Morrison after the PM said he wouldn’t cop any ‘sledging of Australia’ after French President Emmanuel Macron labelled him a liar.

‘Oh, he’s lied to me on many occasions,’ Mr Turnbull said when asked about the spat at the Glasgow summit.

‘There’s quite a few examples in my book, but he’s – Scott has always had a reputation for telling lies.

Ray Hadley used some very crude language on his radio show in reference to Malcolm Turnbull

Ray Hadley used some very crude language on his radio show in reference to Malcolm Turnbull

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan hit back at the former PM Turnbull, who has repeatedly undermined those involved in his ousting as Liberal Party leader and thus prime minister.

‘I thought Malcolm Turnbull went halfway around the world to save the planet, but apparently he’s gone to just grind more axes’,’ the Senator told the Today show on Wednesday.

‘Three years on from losing his job it still hurts. He’s trying to take it out here.

‘He’s just become a bit of a tosser, hasn’t he?’ He just constantly seems to gripe about these things.

‘He’s gone all this way over to Glasgow, you’d think he would focus on those issues that are obviously very personally passionate to him.’

Today co-host Allison Langdon asked if he’d just called Mr Turnbull a ‘tosser’ and would the Senator keen to elaborate further.

‘Is there any other word to describe it,’ Senator Canavan replied.

‘Get over it. It happened years ago. It was a decision of the party room that you yourself benefitted from years before in getting rid of Tony Abbott.

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan called Mr Turnbull a "tosser" over the comments and said he was still bitter about being replaced as Prime Minister by Mr Morrison in 2018

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan called Mr Turnbull a ‘tosser’ over the comments and said he was still bitter about being replaced as Prime Minister by Mr Morrison in 2018 

‘To take this new stance ‘I’m the only one that’s ever been deceived in politics’, there’s only one other word for it and it’s good Australian word, ‘Mate you’re a bit of tosser. Get over it!’  

Australia in September announced it was cancelling the 2016 contract to acquire conventional Attack Class submarines from France’s Naval Group.

Mr Morrison said he made it ‘very clear’ to Mr Macron in June the conventional diesel-powered submarines were not going to meet Australia’s strategic requirements.

‘We discussed that candidly. I did not discuss what other alternatives we were looking at,’ he said.

‘It’s no secret, I’m sure in Australia, that this was a project that had few friends, and that is a point that we had made to Naval and particularly to the French government.

‘It’s clear from President Macron’s statements yesterday that the level of offence is still very great and we will wait for that to subside.’

Emmanuel Macron (pictured at Cop26 in Glasgow on Monday) has repeatedly claimed Scott Morrison gave him no warning the French submarine deal was to be scrapped

Emmanuel Macron (pictured at Cop26 in Glasgow on Monday) has repeatedly claimed Scott Morrison gave him no warning the French submarine deal was to be scrapped 

The government will now spend the next 18 months looking at the feasibility of acquiring technology for nuclear-powered vessels from the United States and United Kingdom under the AUKUS partnership.

Communications between the two leaders were also leaked to the media, with the French president reportedly telling Mr Morrison, ‘I don’t like losing’.

Days before the announcement, Mr Macron reportedly messaged Mr Morrison asking, ‘Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarine ambitions?’

Mr Albanese said the leaking of the text messages highlighted how the prime minister was treating international partners as political opponents.

‘Gaslighting and backgrounding is no way to build relations with our important democratic neighbours,’ he said.

‘Diplomacy requires trust and sombre engagements between leaders’. 

The latest comments come after a leaked text message appears to show that Emmanuel Macron was given warning that Australia could torpedo its $90billion submarine deal with France, as his extraordinary row with Mr Morrisonreaches fever pitch.

A secret leaked text message (pictured) appears to show that Emmanuel Macron was given warning that Australia would torpedo its $90billion submarine deal with France

A secret leaked text message (pictured) appears to show that Emmanuel Macron was given warning that Australia would torpedo its $90billion submarine deal with France

The French president had claimed he was not informed about Australia’s plans to tear up the defence contract until moments before the AUKUS security pact was revealed to the world on September 15.

In a stinging rebuke at the G20 Summit in Rome, he called Scott Morrison a ‘liar’ for suggesting he was given prior knowledge that the defence deal would be scrapped.

But in a message believed to have been leaked by Mr Morrison’s office to show Mr Macron knew the agreement was on shaky ground, the French leader wrote: ‘Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?’ 

The leak comes off the back of Mr Morrison issuing a stunning reproach to the French leader, lambasting him for ‘sledging Australia’ in a war of words which threatens to overshadow diplomatic negotiations in Europe.   

Why is Australia building nuclear-powered submarines? 

 Why nuclear submarines?

Nuclear submarines are powered by nuclear reactors which produce heat that creates high-pressured steam to spin turbines and power the boat’s propeller. 

They can run for about 20 years before needing to refuel, meaning food supplies are the only limit on time at sea.

The boats are also very quiet, making it harder for enemies to detect them and can travel at top speed – about 40kmh – for longer than diesel-powered subs.

The first nuclear submarines were put to sea by the United States in the 1950s. They are now also in use by Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, and India. 

A senior US defence official told reporters in Washington DC: ‘This will give Australia the capability for their submarines to basically deploy for a longer period, they’re quieter, they’re much more capable. 

‘They will allow us to sustain and to improve deterrence across the Indo-Pacific.’

Zack Cooper, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, said nuclear submarines would hugely boost Australia’s military capability.

‘They are going to be much, much more capable in the large, expansive ocean that is Australia has to deal with,’ he told the ABC.  

Will Australia have nuclear weapons? 

Scott Morrison made it clear that the nuclear-power submarines will not have nuclear missiles on board.

Australia has never produced nuclear weapons and signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1973 which prevents non-nuclear states which don’t already have them from developing nuclear weapons.

Mr Morrison also said the Australia has no plans to build nuclear power stations which are widely used around the world. 

‘But let me be clear, Australia is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability,’ he said.

‘And we will continue to meet all our nuclear non-proliferation obligations.’  

Are they safe? 

The nuclear reactors are shielded from the rest of the submarine in a separate section to protect the crew from dangerous radiation. 

The US has an excellent safety record with its nuclear-powered fleet although early Russian subs suffered a few accidents which caused 20 servicemen to die from radiation exposure between 1960 and 1985.

At the end of their 20-year lifetimes, the contaminated parts of nuclear reactors need to be disposed deep underground in special waste storage cells. 

Anti-nuclear campaigners say any leaks of radioactive waste could lead to an environmental disaster. 

Greens leader Adam Bandt called the submarines ‘floating Chernobyls’ in reference to the 1986 nuclear power plant explosion in the Soviet Union.

Why now?

Australia needs to replace its six ageing Collins-class submarines. 

In 2016 it signed a deal with French Company Naval Group to build 12 diesel-electric attack subs – but the parties were in dispute over the amount of building that would be done in Australia.

That deal has now been torn up in favour of nuclear powered subs aided by the US and UK who will provide the technology to Australia.

The West is becoming increasingly concerned about the growing assertiveness of China in the Indo-Pacific region where it has made huge territorial claims in the South and East China seas, clashed with Indian troops and repeatedly flown planes over Taiwan.

Mr Morrison wants Australia to have serious defence capability to deter China from encroaching in the Pacific and long-range nuclear submarines are just the ticket. 

China has vastly built up its military in the past few years and now possesses six Shang-class nuclear powered attack submarines, equipped with torpedoes and cruise missiles.    

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