Karl Stefanovic vs Malcolm Turnbull: ‘With the greatest respect, you are waffling’

TODAY host Karl Stefanovic and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have faced off in an extraordinary slanging match on live TV.

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has fired up at Today host Karl Stefanovic, biting back at taunts the leader was “waffling” and deflecting questions about the strength of his leadership.

Asked by Stefanovic if his prime ministership would survive the citizenship debacle plaguing parliament, Mr Turnbull leant on well-rehearsed lines about his upcoming meetings and the achievements of his government.

“Despite all of the frenzy in the media — there has been plenty of frenzy — what we have seen is the creation in the last year of 371,500 jobs, 85 per cent of them full-time. We have had the longest run of job creation — monthly job creation in 23 years ...” he began.

Stefanovic quickly interjected, sparking a heated exchange.

“PM, with the greatest respect, you are waffling,” the popular host said.

Mr Turnbull shot back, accusing Stefanovic of being “patronising”.

“Karl, you have got a job. If you are looking for a job and you need a job and you have got one because of the strong economic leadership we provided, you may think it is waffling but if you have been unemployed and you are getting a chance to get ahead, you would say you are being very patronising saying young people getting jobs is waffle,” he said.

The PM fired up at the 'patronising' Today host after being accused of waffling. Picture: Channel 9

Stefanovic cheered on the PM’s taunts, saying this was the side of Mr Turnbull the public wanted to see.

“This is the real you! This is what we want!” he said.

“And Karl, is it the real you to patronise people who are out of work and are getting a chance to get ahead,” the PM replied.

On a roll, Mr Turnbull kept going, shooting down suggestions from Stefanovic he was struggling to run his own party as “nonsense”.

“Look at all the big issues we have dealt with recently. The same-sex marriage issue, the postal survey. Total support. It has gone out there,” he said.

“The national energy guarantee has overwhelming support in our party. It is out there ... that is the practical political economic leadership that Australians want and that’s what I’m delivering,” he said.

“Now, we have this issue with citizenship. We will resolve it. That’s my commitment.

“But the issue for Australia is, can I get a job? Can my kids get a job? Will my business get ahead? Can I start a business if I can afford to pay the power bills? Will the lights stay on when I do pay the power bills?

“Those are the big questions and that’s what I’m providing the answers to.”

Before firing up at his interviewer, Mr Turnbull had, somewhat ironically, gloated about his calmness.

Karl egged on the fired-up PM: ‘This is the real you! This is what we want! Picture: Channel 9

“I am a good man in a crisis, Karl,” he said.

“You know, everyone else gets frenzied, particularly in the media. I’m very calm.”

Earlier in the interview, the dual citizenship crisis dominated discussions.

After failing to strike a deal with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over citizenship disclosure for parliamentarians, Mr Turnbull accused his political opponent of not being “fair dinkum” about addressing the issue.

“I think Bill Shorten has to pony up and be fair dinkum,” he told Today.

“We put out on Monday a proposed resolution which would set out all the disclosures that people had to make and the assurances they had to give.

“Bill had said he wanted to be bipartisan ... we had a meeting yesterday Karl, he came to the meeting. He did not propose one amendment.

“I sat there with my iPad for two hours with him and I could not get him to specify what changed he wanted. He said he had to get more advice. He had to consult someone. I thought he was the Leader of the Opposition.”

Mr Turnbull has said he wants the issue — which could threaten his government’s precarious majority — resolved before Christmas.

“I want everyone to make full disclosure of all the relevant material. Where their parents were born and so forth, if they have been a citizen of another country, how they renounced that citizenship of how it came to an end,” he said.

“The sooner Bill Shorten is fair dinkum and produces what he proposes, and which we will obviously consider in good faith, the sooner we can get the matter resolved.”

The Opposition Leader has also done the breakfast television round this morning, saying that he too had demanded a solution over the section of the Constitution that has been giving politicians a headache.

.@BillShorten claims he will be releasing Labour's citizenship documents on Friday, December the 1st. #9Today pic.twitter.com/q9DrdzNFIQ

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) November 8, 2017

Also appearing on Today, Mr Shorten gave a very different account of yesterday’s meeting with the PM.

“We have demanded a solution and we made constructive progress. I’m optimistic we will get to an outcome which resolves the crisis,” he said.

“Labor wants a stronger test. I’m concerned that Malcolm Turnbull’s first pass at trying to resolve the matter doesn’t really enforce the High Court’s interpretation of the Constitution.

“Australians wanted clarity. There is no point in us coming up with a solution in parliament which then doesn’t pass in the courts.”

Mr Shorten said he had no doubt Mr Turnbull wanted to fix the crisis, but said it had “gone on long enough”.

The Opposition Leader also took the unusual step of referring to Mr Turnbull as “the current Prime Minister”.

“Malcolm Turnbull’s government is in crisis. We are prepared to be constructive but we would like to see it resolved more quickly and being true to the High Court and the Constitution, not some watered down version,” he said.

Mr Shorten is arguing for a December 1 deadline for parliamentarians’ citizenship details to be publicly disclosed.

Voters will know by the end of the year which federal members or senators will be referred to the High Court for an eligibility test.