Peta Credlin’s brutal assessment of ‘Mr Harbourside Mansion’ Turnbull’s campaign performance

PETA Credlin has offered a brutal assessment of Malcolm Turnbull’s performance over the first week of the federal election campaign.

Peta Credlin was damning of Mr Turnbull’s performance in an appearance on Sky News.

PETA Credlin has offered a brutal assessment of the Coalition’s performance over the first week of the Federal Election campaign, and the Prime Minister didn’t come out looking great.

The former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, who lost her job when Malcolm Turnbull booted her old boss from the top job, appeared on Sky News last night to give her verdict on the PM’s first week on the road.

Focusing on Mr Turnbull’s performance in the key election battleground of western Sydney, Ms Credlin managed to take more than a few shots at “Mr Harbourside Mansion” himself.

Ms Credlin said “you don’t often see surprises” in the traditionally stage-managed first week of an election campaign, but she was shocked that the well-to-do Prime Minister had cancelled a street walk in the suburban hub of Penrith.

.@KKeneally and Peta Credlin dissect the first few days of the election campaign with @ljayes #pmagenda https://t.co/H6Sy9331AZ

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 12, 2016

“I was surprised that they were flat-footed,” she said.

“I would have thought, particularly with the PM there they would’ve been a bit more agile, more nimble.”

The former adviser said she “wouldn’t have cancelled”, and the move did no favours for Mr Turnbull’s image.

“If it’s known that you were going to do a street walk in Penrith, the last thing you want to do, ‘Mr Harbourside Mansion’, is look like you don’t know and you’re not welcome in western Sydney,” she said.

Former NSW premier Kristina Keneally, who appeared alongside Ms Credlin on the program, agreed it was the wrong move to cancel and it should have gone ahead “even if it would’ve been a five-minute street walk”.

She said it was a “learning week” for both parties, who had each shown “flat-footedness”.

Malcolm Turnbull reportedly cancelled his visit to Penrith after his colleague Fiona Scott was challenged by media on a party room vote during his visit to the electorate of Lindsay. Picture: Lukas Coch/AAP

Ms Credlin managed to take another shot at the Coalition’s failures to appeal to the highly populated area, saying there was no excuse for the party’s failure to preselect five candidates in western Sydney at this stage of the campaign.

“I can’t see a reasonable excuse,” she said.

“If you want to say that western Sydney matters, and you know that you have to hold the eastern seaboard seats you’ve got, it’s critical to have candidates on the ground to sell your message.”

The first leaders debate of the campaign, dubbed a “people’s forum”, will be held tonight in the marginal western Sydney seat of Macquarie, held by Liberal backbencher Louise Markus.

Mr Turnbull and his opponent Bill Shorten will field questions from 100 undecided voters from western Sydney.

Ms Credlin said the forum would be “very important” for western Sydney and for both leaders.