“Vindictive and selfish”: Peter Dutton's harsh words for Malcolm Turnbull
In a new TV documentary series which premieres on Sky News tonight, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton did not hold back when talking about former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The series called Bad Blood/ New Blood showcases the rise of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Dutton claims that Turnbull’s resignation was “vindictive and selfish”.
“He chose to leave in a way that John Howard never would,” Dutton said to The West.
“In a way that Kevin Rudd didn’t, in a way Julia Gillard didn’t and it was done simply out of spite.”
The two part documentary series exposes the details of “spill week” and beyond to David Speers. Part one of the documentary looks at what happened to Turnbull.
The documentary reveals how the leadership spill started, which due to a heated argument between Turnbull ally Craig Laundy and Queensland MP Luke Howarth.
“When I got there Craig said something like, ‘You’re not supporting this madness, are you’ and then we just had a frank discussion,” Howarth said.
“It was pretty straightforward and honest. What I was going to suggest to Malcolm is that actually he resign so we didn’t need a ballot and we didn’t need any division.”
Laundy backs up this claim by explaining his side.
“We lost our temper,” he said. “It was a tense exchange.”
After the exchange, Laundy reached out to Turnbull to warn him about the potential move against him.
“Malcolm said to me very clearly I would rather live on my feet than die on my knees,” Laundy said.
A snap leadership spill was called the very next morning.
The toxic relationship between former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull is also explored throughout the series.
Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said that “it was pathological”.
“If you put them both in the room, there wouldn’t have been a metaphorical fight, it would have been a literal fight.”
Bad Blood/New Blood airs at 6 pm tonight on Sky News.