Recently rolled ex-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been accused of trying to tear apart the party that sacked him as leader.
Andrew Bolt has attacked the ex-Liberal Party leader after he tweeted new Prime Minister Scott Morrison recommending that he refer Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to the High Court over his parliamentary eligibility.
‘He is desperately trying to burn the party to the ground,’ Bolt told viewers of his Sky News program on Thursday evening.
Turnbull threw further fuel on the fire by tweeting his support for David Sharma in the by-election for his vacated seat of Wentworth hours after Morrison publicly endorsed female candidate Katherine O’Regan.
Former Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma (pictured) is Malcolm Turnbull’s preferred candidate to run for the Liberals in next month’s Wentworth by-election
It’s understood Mr Turnbull took time out from his New York vacation to call Dave Sharma, pleading with him to remain in the race for pre-selection for the October 20 by-election, 9 News reported.
Mr Turnbull’s preferred choice of candidate to contest his former federal seat in Sydney’s eastern suburbs is expected to run against former ministerial chief of staff Katherine O’Regan.
She is Mr Morrison’s preferred candidate and the frontrunner tipped to win pre-selection.
A former Australian Ambassador to Israel, Mr Sharma also has the backing of former Prime Minister John Howard.
Mr Turnbull’s brother-in-law Michael Hughes is also believed to be working behind the scenes winning support for Mr Sharma.
The Liberal pre-selection for Wentworth is currently underway at Woolahra’s Easts Rugby Club.
Prime minister Scott Morrison’s preferred candidate Katherine O’Regan is the frontrunner to win party pre-selection to run as the Liberal candidate in Malcolm Tunrbull’s former seat
The winner will run as the Liberal candidate in the October 20 by-election.
Mr Turnbull has held the seat since 2004.
An insider source told 9 News the race would be ‘tight’.
But Ms O’Reagan’s backers told The Australian she could get as many as 75 per cent of the votes in the 120-vote local component of the 206-vote ballot.
New prime minister Scott Morrison (pictured) let his predecessor know who’s now in charge on Thursday morning
It’s the second fight Mr Turnbull has picked with Mr Morrison within 24 hours after he publicly pressured his successor to refer their mutual leadership rival Peter Dutton to the High Court.
‘The point I have made to Scott Morrison and other colleagues is that given the uncertainty around Peter Dutton’s eligibility, acknowledged by the Solicitor-General, he should be referred to the High Court, as Barnaby was, to clarify the matter,’ Mr Turnbull tweeted on Wednesday night.
Mr Morrison hit back at his bitter predecessor on Thursday morning.
It was the second battle Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with granddaughter Alice) has picked with Scott Morrison in the last 24 hours
‘Someone once told me in this job, all contributions should be gratefully received. They are,’ he told reporters at Queanbeyan, just outside Canberra.
‘But as the prime minister, I’ll obviously make the decisions in relation to our government on what I believe is in the national interest and based on the most recent and most timely information that I have available to me.
‘Obviously I have a lot of respect for the former prime minister – but as the prime minister now, I’ll make the decisions that I believe are in the best interests of the nation.’
Malcolm Turnbull (right), pictured with wife Lucy is currently on holidays in New York