Malcolm Turnbull slams Peter Dutton’s leadership challenge as “deluded”
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said Peter Dutton was “deluded” for thinking he could lead the Liberal Party to victory at the elections.
In an interview with Leigh Sales on ABC’s 7.30, the former Liberal leader said Dutton’s leadership challenge was an “absurd proposition”.
“I didn’t imagine that he was so deluded as to imagine that our political prospects would be advanced by a change of leadership, and especially to him,” Turnbull said.
“And it never occurred to me, frankly, that so many people would support him. I mean … if Dutton had become leader, not even Bill Shorten could have lost the election.”
When asked about the August 2018 leadership spills, Turnbull accused the party’s right wing of “operating like a terrorist” in removing him.
“The way they operate is to basically bully and intimidate people,” he said.
“Now, they don’t use guns and bombs, I hasten to add, but it is the technique of terrorism, where you create enough mayhem, enough damage, that people in the middle say, ‘It has got to come to an end, how can I stop this terrible horror?’”
He said Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told him to “give in to the terrorists”.
While Turnbull won the first spill, Dutton received a significant total of 35 votes. The second spill, instigated by Dutton, saw Scott Morrison emerge as the new leader and Prime Minister.
Turnbull said the Liberal Party had become “tribalised” between a liberal and a conservative faction, which “would have preferred Bill Shorten to be prime minister than me”.