Turnbull vows to quit politics if he loses prime ministership

Malcolm Turnbull sympathises with Tony Abbott and vows to quit politics if he loses the prime ministership.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he sympathises with Tony Abbott and has vowed to quit politics if he were to lose the Prime Ministership.

Malcolm Turnbull says he sympathises with Tony Abbott after ousting him as leader and has vowed to quit politics if he were to lose the prime ministership.

A year after the Coalition’s narrow election victory, the Prime Minister said he understood the difficulty that Mr Abbott has had adjusting to life as a backbencher. “It is a big wrench going from being leader to not, I understand that,” he told News Corp Sunday newspapers.

Amid tensions after a number of interventions by Mr Abbott, the PM refused to comment on whether Mr Abbott should leave the parliament, But he did speak candidly about his own future.

“When I cease to be Prime Minister, I will cease to be a Member of Parliament. I am not giving anyone else advice but I just think that’s what I would do,” Mr Turnbull pledged.

Mr Turnbull pointed to the resignation of former New Zealand prime minister John Key — who left politics months after standing down from the top job — as an example of a good political exit.

But, at 62, Mr Turnbull said he had no plans to retire any time soon, describing himself as a “happy Prime Minister”.

Despite trailing in the polls, Mr Turnbull said he had proven his critics wrong, claiming he made the right decision in calling a double-dissolution election last year because the government had passed more legislation through the parliament in the past 12 months than in the three years prior.

But on the election anniversary, he admitted his party had made some potentially disastrous mistakes during last year’s campaign, including underestimating the impact of Labor’s “Mediscare” campaign, which he said was “extraordinarily effective in the last week”.

“It was so outrageous that we underestimated it and a lot of people in the media discounted it as just being outrageous — it showed that you can’t make those assumptions.”

He said the 2014 Abbott-Hockey budget, which slashed education and health funding, allowed Labor to exploit the Coalition’s vulnerabilities and contributed to his government’s poor election result.

“In every campaign you’ve got to do two things: say ‘here are the reasons to vote for me’, and ‘here are the reasons why my opponent is a risk and you shouldn’t vote for him’,” he said.

“We did not do enough to highlight the risk of Labor.’’

The PM has taken to Facebook to mark the 12 month anniversary of his narrow election win, outlining his government’s achievements ranging from education to national security.

“My government has achieved real results, strong outcomes, not just headlines and press statements but new laws, stronger policies, providing opportunity and security for all Australians,” the prime minister says. He says he is not interested in politics and personalities but 24 million Australians.

PM: it’s time for builders, not wreckers

Mr Turnbull yesterday took a veiled swipe at Mr Abbott, writing in a column that it is time for builders “not wreckers”. The Prime Minister is stepping up his pitch to voters after a damaging round of Liberal in-fighting, vowing­ to deliver “opportunity and security” in a new policy message one year after his narrow victory­ in the federal election.

He is hailing a “year of delivery” on schools, energ­y and national security as he embarks on a political offensive to win back electors while fending off a growing threat from his predecessor, Mr Abbott.

“They’re not theories, or thought bubbles, or glib one-liners,” he wrote in a column for News Corp Australia today.

Mr Abbott moved during the week to set out an alternative manifesto for the government, including tighter immigration rules, the scrapping of the renewable energy target, ­reforms to get around Senate blockades and a pledge to “live within our means” by avoiding frivolous spending.

Mr Turnbull, having batted away questions about his predecessor all week, wrote in the column that voters were sick of politics and personalities.

“Frankly, so am I,” he said. “This is a time for builders, not wreckers. For leaders who get things done and don’t just talk. For negotiators and deal-makers who trade in results, not in platitudes.”

PM Malcolm Turnbull and wife Lucy pictured with daughter Daisy (left) and grandchildren Alice (10 months) and Jack (3 years) in Sydney. Picture: SAM RUTTYN

On energy, Mr Turnbull said his government was guided by engineering and economics - not ideology and politics.

“That’s the old way, and it has failed. Australians want clear-eyed, hard- headed, well-thought-out leadership.

“My clear message to politicians and journalists alike, is don’t focus on yourselves. Focus on the people who elected us.”

Moving to placate conservative colleagues, Mr Turnbull has dropped Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne from a visit to France to meet the company that will help build the next fleet of Australian submarines.

Mr Pyne was due to join the meeting with shipbuilder DCNS in Cherbourg after Mr Turnbull ­attends the G20 summit in Germany next weekend, but the Prime Minister has changed plans after the outcry over Mr Pyne’s leaked comments declaring victory for Liberal moderates over conservatives.

At the same time, the Prime Minister’s Office is hardening its response to the complaints from Mr Abbott over the government’s direction, seeking to portray Mr Abbott as a “wrecker” like Bill Shorten.

Mr Turnbull has avoided any ­direct comment on Mr Abbott but is pointing to the government’s ­record of building new policies in contrast with those who seek to tear them down.

The Opposition Leader will renew his attack­ on the government over penalty rates this weekend, heading to Tasmania and Queensland to contrast his message about workers’ wages with the Liberal Party’s internal disputes.

Senior government ministers hit back at Mr Abbott yesterday to dismiss his calls for a dramatic shift in the government’s direction, with one declaring he was “damaging his credibility” by trying to ­“rewrite history” over his time as prime minister.

Mr Turnbull told The Weekend Australian the government had spent the past year delivering on policies, such as the $23 billion boost to school funding legislated last week over the objections of Labor and the Greens.

“We’ve delivered tax cuts for small business. We’re acting to ease the pressure on energy prices by ensuring there is adequate supply­ for the domestic gas market and we are building Snowy Hydro 2.0,” he said. “We’ve reformed childcare and introduced the Medicare Guarantee Fund.

“We have given our police and security agencies greater power and resources to keep us safe.’’

Mr Turnbull clung on to power a year ago with 76 seats compared with Labor’s 69 and has lost ground since then, with the latest Newspoll showing the government lags behind Labor by 47 to 53 per cent in two-party terms.

Mr Shorten said the Liberals “just want to fight each other” rather than govern the country.

“You almost get the sense that the rest of us are an interruption in their day when they want to beat up on each other,” he said.

International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells took aim at Mr Abbott yesterday for suggesting Australia had only an “aspiration” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when the Abbott government made a commitment to cuts.

“If now he says that he was wrong when he was prime minister, well that’s a matter for him,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.

“But I would urge Tony not to try and rewrite history, ­because all it’s doing is damaging his ­credibility.”

David Crowe and AAP