Malcolm Turnbull has taken a swipe at predecessors Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, calling them ‘miserable, miserable ghosts’ and accusing them of being hate driven.
The former prime minister was secretly recorded discussing August’s leadership spill at a ‘young leaders’ workshop in New York on Friday, according to The Today Show.
‘There is no way I would be hanging around like lipid Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott – seriously, these people are like sort of miserable, miserable ghosts,’ Mr Turnbull could be heard saying.
Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) has taken a swipe at predecessors Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, calling them ‘miserable miserable ghosts’ and accusing them of being hate driven
He also said it was ‘entirely crazy’ for Peter Dutton to call on a leadership ballot given internal tracking polls showed Mr Turnbull’s party was actually ahead four points.
Mr Turnbull was alluding to him being behind 51 to 49 per cent in published polls, but ahead across 40 marginal seats internally.
‘For reasons that they’ve not been able to explain…there was an element of the party and the media that wanted to blow the government up,’ Mr Turnbull said.
‘And of course, they did. And of course, they didn’t get their guy, they got ScoMo (Scott Morrrison).’
He then accused his predecessors of being motivated by hate, stating that each of their crusade to the top was out of despise for the former leader.
He also said it was ‘entirely crazy’ for Peter Dutton to call on a leadership ballot given internal tracking polls showed Mr Turnbull’s party was actually ahead four points
Mr Rudd went after Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, while Mr Abbott (pictured) persevered to eventually knock off Mr Rudd
Mr Rudd went after Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, while Mr Abbott persevered to eventually knock off Mr Rudd.
Scott Morrison told ABC Insiders program on Sunday he was sure Mr Turnbull would have seen the government through a successful next election if it weren’t for the spill.
Mr Morrison deflected blame for the leadership spill, instead pointing the finger at the Liberal MPs who voted for it.
‘As John Howard always said, the leadership of the parliamentary Liberal party is the gift of the parliamentary party and you respect their decisions and you get on with your job,’ he said.
Mr Turnbull said there was no way he would be ‘hanging around like lipid Kevin Rudd (pictured) or Tony Abbott’ following his loss of the top job