Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says that he was ousted by his fellow Liberal colleagues in a leadership spill because they feared that he would win the next election.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Turnbull blamed his demise on the āinternal politics of the Liberal Partyā, adding that there was a āform of madnessā in the air that was provoked both within the party and by āvoices in the media,ā
He said that āyou could argue that their concern was not that Iād lose the election but rather that Iād win it.ā
BBC host Andrew Neil challenged Mr Turnbullās claim, saying that it was ānot credibleā and citing the fact the Government was trailing behind the opposition 40 polls in a row.
Mr Turnbull defended his statement, saying that his government had a ālevel peggingā in polls. He said that āin terms of determining government, we were ahead,ā
Mr Turnbull also said that his replacement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was in a āworse positionā now than when the leadership spill took place. He said that ānormally when you replace a leader, you replace the unpopular personā with a candidate āwho is much more popular and gives you a chance of winning,ā
He said that the party was now polling worse than it was when he left office and that āyou canāt deny thatās a fact.ā
Mr Turnbullās former colleagues did not seem to express much of a reaction to the comments, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann calling it āancient historyā and Defence Minister Christopher Pyne saying that the former PM could say whatever he wished to.
During his interview, Mr Turnbull said that āIām always interested in politics but I wonāt be engaging in the partisan, political battle,ā and that āIām a Liberal, no question about that, but Iāve retired from politics.ā