Turnbull unveils impersonations of Donald Trump and Alan Jones in new audio book
Malcolm Turnbull does impersonations of Alan Jones and Donald Trump in the audio version of his new book
Malcolm Turnbull impersonating Alan Jones and Donald Trump? You’d better believe it.
Diary has learnt Turnbull has dusted off his skills as a mimic to help launch A Bigger Picture. With the release of the physical version of the book on Monday, a separate audio version will also be available. And who has given voice to the tome’s words? None other than Malcolm Bligh Turnbull himself, having apparently chosen to read his own words aloud as an added attraction to boost sales.
Diary is told that in February, pre-social distancing, Turnbull locked himself down for long days and nights in a North Sydney studio. For several weeks he gave the talking version a personal touch.
Our spies say the results are fascinating, with Turnbull, who has always fancied himself as a mimic, attempting the voices of some of the more prominent people in the book.
One, we’re told, is Jones, in a chapter titled “Not like you do, Alan”. The chapter recounts the much-recited 2014 radio encounter between the pair, in which Jones asked Turnbull to “say after me”, on air: “I am totally supportive of the Abbott-Hockey strategy for Budget repair.”
Turnbull’s famous reply? “Alan, I am not going to take dictation from you.”
Jones went on to describe Turnbull in the interview as “angry” and “very nervous”, while Turnbull described Jones as a “bomb thrower”. We can only imagine how that back-and-forth will sound with Turnbull playing both parts.
Trump is also in the firing line, Diary hears. A Bigger Picture mentions an encounter with Trump and his wife. Turnbull quotes Trump as saying: “Melania, do you know Malcolm has 2000 of the worst terrorists in the world locked up on a desert island and that fool Obama agreed to take them.”
The talking book isn’t the first time Turnbull has done Trump. Back at Canberra’s Midwinter Ball in 2017, Turnbull, while still PM, pulled off an uncanny impression of the US President, in a supposedly off-the-record speech that made international headlines.
Read the full Media Diary on Monday
More Coverage
Home buyers ready for interest rate cuts
After several months of modest price falls, property experts are not expecting a housing market resurgence off the back of an interest rate cut.
Rise of local terror demands better from our leaders
The scourge of anti-Semitism in Australia has become a runaway train that now demands a radically escalated counter-terror mindset from federal and state governments, police and spy agencies.