Already strained relations between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull seem to be getting worse by the minute.
The Prime Minister has said that he has ruled out sending Mr Turnbull on any more diplomatic missions.
It comes after Mr Turnbull, while on a diplomatic mission to Indonesia on behalf of Australia, an assignment Mr Morrison defended at the time, spoke to Indonesian officials about Mr Morrison’s potential plan to move Australia’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
The suggestion of the move reportedly irked Indonesia’s Government and put into question the planned free trade agreement that Mr Morrison had negotiated shortly after ousting Malcolm Turnbull to become Prime Minister of Australia.
During the oceans conference in Bali that Mr Turnbull was sent to attend on behalf of Australia, he reported that any attempt to move Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would invite a “very negative reaction” from the Indonesian Government, jeopardising ties with Australia.
Mr Morrison revealed his intentions not to send Mr Turnbull on any more diplomatic missions during a radio interview wherein Alan Jones, the 2GB radio broadcaster, asked if Mr Turnbull was going to be sent on any more assignments as an opportunity to “sprout his own, discredited views”.
Mr Morrison said “no” in response and elaborated by saying that Mr Turnbull had gone outside of what was expected of him in Indonesia where “issues of trade and other things” were not part of the official briefing.
Mr Turnbull responded on Twitter contradicting his successor’s statements saying that “trade and the embassy issue” were specifically part of the agenda when he visited Indonesia.