Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gets picked up from airport by daughter Daisy
FORMER PM Malcolm Turnbull has returned to his home in Sydney from the US and declared he is “out of partisan politics” following his refusal to help the Liberal party campaign in the Wentworth by-election.
NSW
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FORMER PM Malcolm Turnbull has returned to his home in Sydney from the US and declared he is “out of partisan politics” following his refusal to help the Liberal party campaign in the Wentworth by-election.
The former prime minister was spotted going for a walk with his wife Lucy near his Point Piper mansion this morning but declined to comment when asked if he held any responsibility for the Liberals now facing the prospect of being pushed into a minority government.
The final vote in his old blue ribbon seat of Wentworth is yet to be decided, but it appears independent Kerryn Phelps is set to beat star Liberal candidate Dave Sharma.
“We have to see the results in Wentworth, but, as I said when I left the office of prime minister, I’m out of partisan politics and so that is it,” Mr Turnbull told reporters outside his house.
“I’ll continue to have things to say about important matters of public interest, but I’m not engaged in politics any longer – I’m retired.”
When asked if he would quit the Liberal party, Mr Turnbull said: “I’m a long term member of the Liberal party”.
Mr Turnbull returned from overseas yesterday, slipping out of Sydney Airport via an outside exit — the same one used last week by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan — before hopping into a waiting car driven by his daughter Daisy.
He had travelled to New York, where he owns a luxury apartment, shortly after he was ousted in August and had refused to help the Liberal Party campaign in the by-election in his vacated eastern suburbs seat of Wentworth.
But he refused to help the Liberal party campaign in the Wentworth by-election, sending only one tweet of support after Mr Sharma won pre-selection.
Mr Sharma - Australia’s former ambassador to Israel - reportedly asked Mr Turnbull personally if he could send a message of support days before the final vote on Saturday.
He looks set to be defeated by independent Kerryn Phelps.
His return comes as new Prime Minister Scott Morrison faces chaos in Parliament as the Coalition’s hopes of clinging to majority government quickly fade.
Mr Turnbull said he spent his first morning back home going out into the water in his kayak before heading on the walk.