Malcolm Turnbull consumed by hatred, says Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton has accused Malcolm Turnbull of being ‘totally consumed by ­hatred’ as Liberal MPs condemn the former PM for campaigning against the government.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton. Picture: AFP

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has accused Malcolm Turnbull of being “totally consumed by ­hatred” as Liberal MPs condemn the former prime minister for campaigning against the Morrison government.

Mr Dutton said he felt “incredibly sorry” for Mr Turnbull after the former Wentworth MP ­accused Scott Morrison of being a serial liar at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow.

“He should be enjoying that stage of his life instead of being consumed, totally consumed, by hatred and this desire to bring down the Morrison government,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio.

“A lot of this is driven by spite ... I just think he’s better off moving on. It’s better off for the country.”

Assistant Minister to the ­Attorney-General Amanda Stoker also rejected claims the Prime Minister was a liar, dismissing Mr Turnbull as a “miserable ghost”.

“What Mr Turnbull does is a matter for him,” she told Sky News. “I wish him every happiness and I suggest that probably includes moving on to do productive things with his life.”

Conservative Liberal MP Tony Pasin said Mr Turnbull’s undermining of Mr Morrison and the Coalition “highlight both why it was that a majority of his colleagues lost confidence in his prime ministership and that he lacked the insight necessary to understand why they arrived at that conclusion”.

“I understand Malcolm feels aggrieved but by his behaviour in undermining our nation’s leadership, he serves only to confirm the members of the Liberal partyroom got it right in August 2018,” Mr Pasin said.

Liberal National MP Warren Entsch said Mr Turnbull was an “unsuccessful” prime minister who lacked the courage and conviction to implement ambitious climate change policies.

He said Mr Turnbull’s criticism of the nation’s leader in Glasgow amounted to treachery, and the former prime minister was merely acting out of “payback” for the way he lost the Liberal leadership. “He is just a bitter, twisted, unsuccessful former prime minister. And not a good one as well,” Mr Entsch said.

“He is firing rocks at his own country. He is a has-been. He was a short-term prime minister. He failed in things he believed in. He got to leadership on his own treachery. Hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

Mr Entsch, who represents the north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, said he was used by Mr Turnbull to take up the internal argument in favour of the former prime minister’s signature energy policy, the national energy guarantee. Mr Turnbull dropped the policy in the final days of his prime ministership.