Nigel Farage calls former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull a ‘snake’ as he rips into ‘liberal elite’

Nigel Farage called Australia’s former PM Malcolm Turnbull a ‘snake’ today as he ripped into ‘trendy, metro, liberal elite’ leaders like David Cameron.

Mr Farage was announced as ‘quite possibly’ the next British PM as he took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Sydney, Australia.

With the UK’s exit from the EU months away, Mr Farage spoke optimistically about trading around the world and added, ‘Australia is right up there at the top of my personal list.’

The Brexit Party leader compared Mr Turnbull to David Cameron, describing how the men pretended to be conservatives but were simply the liberal elite.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage makes his address during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Sydney, Australia today

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Farage compared him to a Britain's former PM David Cameron

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Farage compared him to a Britain’s former PM David Cameron

Mr Farage told the audience of about 500: ‘Malcolm Turnbull … pretended to be a conservative but actually turned out to be a snake.’

And added, ‘David Cameron was someone who was not conservative at all but a part of the trendy, metro, liberal elite masquerading as a conservative.’

Mr Farage backed Australia’s new PM, Scott Morrison who was elected last summer, telling the audience: ‘You’ve now got someone conservative, mainstream media [and] those in the middle of Melbourne and Sydney may not like him … But out where real people live, they voted for him.’

He conceded that when he was in Melbourne he’d thought ‘the greenies had taken over’ as 600 protesters rallied against him.

And protesters followed his movements in Sydney too. Footage from outside the Rydges Hotel showed around 30 demonstrators engaged in scuffles on the street. 

At one point a man is doused in coffee as police officers hauled people away from the scene.

UK Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage makes an address during the Conservative Political Action Conference

UK Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage makes an address during the Conservative Political Action Conference

Australian former prime minister Tony Abbott waves during an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference

Australian former prime minister Tony Abbott waves during an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference

Tony Abott, the Australian PM replaced by Mr Turnbull in 2015, was also at CPAC on its first day on Friday.

He described how Australia had ‘lost its anchor posts’ and said, ‘they used to be anchored in the Christian faith. Faith is a gift, some people have, some people don’t.’

Mr Abott tore into legislation to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales.

Yesterday, controversial activist Raheem Kassam spoke at the conference about Australia’s Labor party putting his life in danger when it tried to ban him from the country for criticising Islam. 

Conference attendees in 'Make America Great Again' hats look on as activists from the Unite Against The Far Right and NUS Against Racism groups today in Sydney

Conference attendees in ‘Make America Great Again’ hats look on as activists from the Unite Against The Far Right and NUS Against Racism groups today in Sydney

The former editor-in-chief of Breitbart said New South Wales Labor Deputy Senate Leader Kristina Keneally had tried to harm his prospects by seeking to cancel his visa so he could not speak at the conference. 

‘There’s nothing Christian about silencing your political opposition,’ Mr Kassam told the audience, referring to Ms Keneally’s Catholic upbringing.   

‘There’s nothing God-fearing about hiding behind parliamentary privilege to besmirch me, to try to harm my livelihood and my life, and my reputation – to put me in danger to walk down the streets of Sydney, because that’s what she’s doing,’ he said on Friday.

Raheem Kassam, an ex-Muslim, said being banned from Australia would have harmed his future job and visa applications. 'I spent 20 years in Islam. Kristina Keneally spent about 20 minutes loitering outside a mosque,' he said.

Raheem Kassam, an ex-Muslim, said being banned from Australia would have harmed his future job and visa applications. ‘I spent 20 years in Islam. Kristina Keneally spent about 20 minutes loitering outside a mosque,’ he said.

Ms Keneally had appealed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to cancel Mr Kassam’s visa and rallied multicultural organisations to do the same.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia, a multicultural lobby group with 100 member organisations, backed her calls, with Ms Keneally tweeting their support on Sunday.

Her opposition stemmed from a comment from Mr Kassam calling the Koran ‘fundamentally evil’, which he later clarified at CPAC as meaning the fundamentalist interpretation of it.

The two day conference culminated today with Mr Farage’s speech.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk