Retirement bomb: Malcolm Turnbull hits out at ‘crazy’ colleagues

Malcolm Turnbull has made one thing clear in a piercing reprisal of those who brought him down.

He will accept no responsibility for his own downfall. He will admit no blame and refutes suggestions of any political failure that could be laid at his feet.

This self-assessment should be troubling for the Morrison government. It is a clear indication that Turnbull will not be silenced until Australians are offered an explanation for his removal from office.

The former prime minister’s first media appearance since he was forced from office 76 days ago, will offer no solace to those of his former colleagues who may have been hoping that, having got if off his liver, Turnbull might vanish into the night.

His assessment was brutal.

The four chief conspirators in Turnbull’s eyes were Peter Dutton (obviously), Mathias Cormann, Greg Hunt and Tony Abbott, who in fact was kept largely out of the loop in the construction of the actual spill.

Turnbull then added Mitch Fifield, Michaelia Cash, Steven Ciobo and Angus Taylor to the list of abetters.

He cleverly steered clear of including Scott Morrison in the mix, even though his private view is that his successor betrayed him as well.

None of this is new. But Turnbull’s assessment of their behaviour and complicity in the coup was unforgiving.

He repeated his claims that they had been helped by a relentless and objectionable personal campaign against him from sections of the media.

They all had blown up the government and overthrown a prime minister in what he clearly sees as a fit of viral madness. “There was a long list of them … they blew up the government,” Turnbull said last night. “I can’t explain it, Scott Morrison can’t explain it and those responsible choose not to.”

Turnbull’s throwaway remark that “maybe they were worried we would win the election” escaped scrutiny in the hour-long interview.

But this is key to the question that Turnbull claims remains unanswered.

Turnbull was at the centre of a struggle for the soul of the Liberal Party; he has been for a decade.

Conservatives can’t abide him, nor he them.

He was correct in his suggestion that there was, and still is, a view among some conservative MPs that they need to lose the election to restore a centre-right ballast to the Coalition.

This assumes of course that more moderates lose their seats than conservatives do — which is unlikely.

In turn, Turnbull accused the Right of not being prepared to accept the consensus and bullying the party into taking positions under the threat of blowing the show up.

What he didn’t explain is why he then bowed to their will in the final days.