Scott Morrison won’t tune into Malcolm Turnbull on Q&A

Scott Morrison says he will be in the air when his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull appears on the ABC’s Q&A program tonight.

Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison just before Mr Turnbull was rolled. Picture: Kym Smith.

Scott Morrison says he will not be tuning into the ABC’s Q&A program tonight to watch his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull’s first media appearance since he was ousted by Liberal MPs.

The former prime minister will field questions from ABC journalist Tony Jones and members of the public tonight about his time as Prime Minister.

But Mr Morrison told reporters today that he will be in the skies when the program starts at 8pm eastern time.

“I’m flying home to Sydney tonight,” he told reporters in Townsville this morning, “I wish him the best and if I asked him a question I would say how are you going?”

The ABC has advertised tonight’s television event as a chance for Mr Turnbull to answer “questions from the people of Australia” and talk about the factors that led to his downfall.

“Politics. Parties. Leadership. Disruption. Growth. Climate. Gender. Prices. Innovation. Conservatism. Entitlement. Compassion,” an ABC press release read last week.

“So many questions left unanswered. What will you ask Malcolm Turnbull?”

Tensions between the Prime Minister a boiled over last week when Mr Turnbull publicly warned Mr Morrison over the possibility of moving Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Mr Turnbull was representing Mr Morrison at an oceans conference in Bali at the time.

The former prime minister has noticeably waded, and noticeably not waded, into federal politics since he left office.

Mr Turnbull was criticised by some Liberals for not supporting Liberal candidate Dave Sharma strongly enough in the Wentworth by-election last month. Mr Turnbull’s former federal seat was ultimately lost to independent Kerryn Phelps.

He also took to Twitter on September 13 to call for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who challenged his leadership, to be referred to the High Court over his eligibility to sit in parliament.