Leigh Sales grills Prime Minister Scott Morrison on ABC’s 7.30

Leigh Sales has accused Scott Morrison of kicking “own goals” and asked “why would the public trust you” in a heated interview on ABC’s 7.30.

ABC host Leigh Sales and Scott Morrison have traded barbs in a testy 7.30 interview that began with a “rude” question - is the Prime Minister’s biggest problem staring at him in the mirror?

As the Prime Minister prepares to visit the Governor-General and call an election within days, the 7.30 host asked if the biggest threat to the government, given the economy was doing relatively well, was Scott Morrison’s unpopularity.

“Let me put it to you ...that there can only be one factor that’s playing into the negative sentiment towards your coalition and that without sounding rude has to be you?,’’’ Sales said.

She then read a “long list” of people who said the Prime Minister was a bully, a liar and a “horrible, horrible person.”

In response, the Prime Minister said those attacking him were simply disgruntled for their own reasons.

Leigh Sales. Credit: ABC

“People are always disappointed and they’ll have an axe to grind. That’s normal in politics, particularly when you’re going into an election,’’ he said.

The Prime Minister then insisted he had always stood against the Liberal factions, prompting Sales to interject, “come on!.”

“I’ve never had time for the factional games in the Liberal Party. You get plenty of enemies,’’ he said.

“When you don’t let people bully their way into getting the outcomes that they want.”

Mr Morrison insisted he had intervened in the NSW preselection to protect the women on his team who faced challenges.

“Sussan Ley, one of my finest cabinet ministers and one of our most successful women in parliament, was under threat,’’ he said.

“She was under threat from factions within the Liberal Party and I stood up. I’m very serious.”

“I’m asked all the time why won’t the Prime Minister do more about getting good women in Parliament and stand up for the women. I stood up for the women in my team.”

Earlier, the NSW MLC Catherine Cusack accused the Prime Minister of abandoning flood victims out of “pettiness” with the NSW Perrottet Government.

“Scott Morrison is practised at bullying and getting his own way,’’ she said.

“We are in the middle of a massive catastrophe here in the northern rivers. So outrageous, it’s just outrageous. It is so petty. He’s obviously not happy with the New South Wales Government.”

Mr Morrison said Ms Cusack had made similar complaints about the former NSW Premier.

“Look, Catherine and I have known each other for a long time. She made similar criticisms of Gladys Berejiklian,’’ he said.

Scott Morrison on 7.30. Credit: ABC

“When people become frustrated in the political process, they have lashed out. People have axes to grind.”

The 7:30 host then noted that the former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had called him a “horrible, horrible person” in a leaked text message.

“Which she denies by the way,’’ Mr Morrison interjected.

In fact, Ms Berejikilian has never categorically denied the text message, she simply diplomatically observed she didn’t recall sending them.

“That’s a lot of smoke. No fire?’’ Sales asked.

However the interview ended on a sour note with the Prime Minister telling the veteran 7:30 host that her program didn’t run the election campaign.

“Prime Minister, every election campaign for the past 27 years that this show has been on, both leaders have done a couple of prime time interviews. I’ve already invited Mr Albanese and he agreed. Would you be happy to do a couple of interviews?,’’she asked.

“We will appear on the ABC and everybody’s programs over the course of the campaign and we’ve always made ourselves pretty available,’’ he said.

Sales shot back: “That’s not a direct answer, actually. Will you do two interviews on 7.30?

“It’s not about 7.30, it’s about the Australian people and we’ll make ourselves available to the ABC and all the networks,’’ the Prime Minister replied.

“I don’t think the major issue people are thinking about is the 7.30. Not at all.”

Originally published as Leigh Sales grills Prime Minister Scott Morrison on ABC’s 7.30