Malcolm Turnbull’s publisher threatens to call in Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police may become involved in allegations surrounding copies of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s new book.

Malcolm Turnbull’s publisher has threatened to call in the Australian Federal Police to probe cabinet ministers in the Morrison Government who may have shared ‘pirate’ copies of his new book.

Accusing one staffer in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office of a “massive breach” of copyright, the publisher Hardie Grant has announced it could also subpoena Defence Minister Marise Payne, who admitted on live television she had also “received and deleted” an illegal copy.

The dramatic escalation of the row came as conservatives in the NSW Liberal Party branch threatened to expel the former Prime Minister from the Liberal Party for dishing the dirt on his colleagues in his new book, A Bigger Picture.

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The book reveals former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s expletive-filled rants over his private conversations with Mr Turnbull to secure jobs for former colleagues.

“When I wished him a happy Christmas he told me to f … k off several times and hung up,’’ Mr Turnbull writes.

Recounting another private conversation in a WhatsApp group, Mr Turnbull claims none of his colleagues wanted to put Mr Abbott back into the cabinet because they feared he would leak.

Malcolm Turnbull’s book, A Bigger Picture.

According to Mr Turnbull’s book, Liberal frontbencher Chris Pyne observed this would be like putting “a kleptomaniac in charge of the petty cash tin.”

A staffer in the Prime Minister’s office apologised on Sunday night for sharing the book, A Bigger Picture, 59 times including from his work email address.

The senior adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison had previously boasted of sharing it “millions” of times and urged others to pass it on in correspondence obtained by Hardie Grant.

“What drew this to our attention was the distribution of the pirated edition from an address from within the Prime Minister’s Office, sent to people who reported the illegal edition,’’ Hardie Grant CEO Sandy Grant said.

“Piracy is a problem for best-selling books and our lawyers have taken immediate action to make it clear we intend to take action against the person seemingly distributing A Bigger Picture widely and illegally, as well as any site sharing the file’, said Sandy Grant.

But a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office said the staffer will not be sacked for sharing the illegal copy of the book.

“The Prime Minister’s office will not comment on legal proceedings,” a spokesman for Mr Morrison said.

“Staff have been reminded of their obligations under copyright law, and of the high standards of conduct expected of them.”

Defence Minister Sen Marise Payne speaking on the ABC'S Insiders program.

Mr Morrison has repeatedly refused to be drawn into the drama surrounding the book, including over whether his Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton regarded him as a ‘Machiavellian plotter.’

After being alerted to the distribution of the illegal version of the book to government staffers and at least one Liberal MP, Hardie Grant’s law firm, HWL Ebsworth, sent a cease and desist notice to the staff member in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Bizarrely, there were so many illegal copies circulating that it’s understood Mr Turnbull’s own daughter Daily Turnbull-Brown was sent a copy by a concerned friend.

“Everyone in government, and especially anyone with a leadership role, has an obligation not just to observe the law but to uphold it,’’ Australian Publishers Association chief executive Michael Gordon-Smith said,

“As the resignation of Don Harwin from the NSW cabinet shows, this is a time when governments should not tolerate behaviour that risks any suggestion that laws do not apply equally to us all.’

Robbie Egan, the President of The Australian Booksellers Association said the industry was in a fight for survival.

“Just as we would not tolerate someone from the Prime Minister’s Office walking into one of our members’ bookstores, taking books without paying, and handing them out in the street, we condemn the piracy of ebooks,’’ he said.

The book, A Bigger Picture is due to be released on the book’s official publication day, Monday 20 April 2020.

Samantha Maiden is news.com.au’s national political editor | @samanthamaiden