Piers Akerman: Why Malcolm Turnbull was a disloyal bully

A new book on Malcolm Turnbull’s ­demise portrays those who stood up to him as bullies. But the real bully in this tale is Turnbull, Piers Akerman writes. He’s the one who had tantrums, made threats and was most disloyal throughout his career.

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The post-election surge of support for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Coalition since the May 18 election repudiates all the claims made by his lacklustre predecessor Malcolm Turnbull.

Not only did Mr Morrison win the election Mr Turnbull and many of pusillanimous supporters believed unwinnable — he has cemented his victory since the return of government with a swing towards it of 2.6 percentage points, lifting its primary vote to 44 per cent for the first time in more than three years according to Newspoll.

It is the Coalition’s best result since the short-lived euphoria from the luvvies which followed Mr Turnbull’s ­deluded white-anting of his predecessor Tony Abbott in 2015.

It would seem that those who were witlessly branded the Delcons — deluded conservatives — have returned to support the Liberals, at least for now.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: BBC

Labor has failed to shift the needle from the record low levels of support that produced its worst primary vote result at an election for 85 years.

The Coalition now leads Labor 53-47 on a two-party-preferred vote after it was re-elected on a margin of 51.5-48.5 per cent.

You can bet that the margins were probably even greater but the pollster has played it cautiously.

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These results leave most in the press gallery with egg on their faces and crow in their mouths.

None more so that my old colleague Niki Savva, a Turnbull tragic.

Which leads me to plead — please don’t give me a copy of Plots And Prayers, her book on Mr Turnbull’s ­demise and Mr Morrison’s ascension. Not this Christmas, not my next birthday, not ever.

Niki Savva’s new book Plots and Prayers.

As the first “in-the-bubble” account to hit the stands since the May election, it is precisely the sort of gift thoughtful friends and readers feel I would appreciate. Normally I would but having been lent a copy, please do not bother to buy me one. It’s not worth it.

I paid it serious attention as befits Savva’s status. I was initially bemused and then totally amused by the contradictory arguments she presented.

Fixated on the notion that Mr Turnbull should not have been toppled and that Tony Abbott was most responsible for Mr Turnbull’s execution from the prologue, it is not surprising that the initial title was Highway To Hell: The Coup That Destroyed Malcolm Turnbull And Left The Liberals In Ruins.

From there she conjures up ­conspiratorial arguments to support this thesis almost to the end of the ­acknowledgments on page 397.

If you ever tortured yourself watching her on Insiders or reading her in The Australian ever since Mr Turnbull stabbed Mr Abbott in the back, you will know exactly what her book contains.

Savva, like many unfortunate ABC viewing nincompoops, thought and possibly still does, that Mr Turnbull was the Messiah. This was, after all, the view he had of himself.

PM Scott Morrison has been doing well since he came into power, Piers Akerman writes. Picture: Kym Smith

According to his last remaining supporter Craig Laundy, Mr Turnbull viewed 2018 as a year of madness, his annus amentia, a year marked by lunatic events. At a dinner at the Laundy home after his fall, Mr Turnbull would name those responsible for bringing him down as Peter Dutton, Rupert Murdoch and Tony Abbott.

For someone as narcissistic as Mr Turnbull, a glance in his mirror would have revealed the author of his demise.

Mr Dutton served a useful role in acting as a lightning rod for those who could see clearly that Mr Turnbull had failed as a prime minister and probably more importantly, as a Liberal.

Broad church, as Prime Minister John Howard often described it, the Liberal Party had moved severely to the Left under Mr Turnbull — not the Right as Savva claims — the same direction he had attempted to take it when he was Opposition leader, and again it was too far and brought about the same result. He was rejected by his own party room.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott. Picture: AAP/Glenn Hunt

He also famously failed to meet the Newspoll metric he had set for Mr Abbott because rank-and-file members knew his goose was cooked well before MPs started deserting him. They knew he had to go if there was any chance of winning the May election.

Extraordinarily, to the end, she is determined to paint those who had the courage to stand up to Mr Turnbull as bullies. Sometimes with a capital “B”.

The bully in the tale is Mr Turnbull, however. He’s the one who has the tantrums, who makes the threats, who throughout his political career has been most disloyal.

There’s no need to issue a spoiler alert when describing the contents of this book.

There is nothing to spoil.