Turnbull stirs up leadership talk

Appearing on the ABC, Malcolm Turnbull answers the question about ant future ambition to be leader of the Coalition. Courtesy: The 7:30 Report/ABC

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Malcolm Turnbull has infuriated colleagues after stirring up leadership speculation while Prime Minister Tony Abbott was overseas.

In an extraordinary television interview, Mr Turnbull refused to rule out one day being leader of the Liberal party.

"I don't have any plans, any desires, any expectations to be the leader …. Having said that … politics is an unpredictable business,'' he told the ABC's 730 program.

His interview came at the end of a day of relentless media appearances in which Turnbull was repeatedly accused of undermining Mr Abbott, who defeated him by one vote in a contest for the Liberal party leadership in 2009.

Asked on 730 last night if his ambition to be leader was extinguished, he replied: "I don't think there is any member of the House of Representatives who, if in the right circumstances, would not take on that responsibility."

The communications minister said he was very happy in his current portfolio and believed his prospects for the prime minister's job were "somewhere between nil and negligible".

THE SMACKDOWN: Malcolm Turnbull v Alan Jones

His comments exploded across the Liberal party with colleagues baffled as to why he would make the remarks, particularly while the PM was overseas.

Mr Turnbull is not thought to have any serious support as a potential leader and he appeared to acknowledge that in his interview.

Fired up ... Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House Canberra today. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia

With the Prime Minister out of the country, the former Coalition leader joined an on-air brawl with radio shock jock Alan Jones over last week's dinner with MP Clive Palmer, saying: "I'm not going to take dictation from you, I'm a Cabinet minister."

During the tense verbal confrontation, Mr Turnbull denied destabilising the Government and not backing the Budget, and accused Mr Jones instead of being the bomb-thrower.

A week after criticising Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt, Mr Turnbull accused both men of "doing Labor's work'' through their suggestions he wasn't totally behind Mr Abbott and the Budget and had defied his leader by dining with Mr Palmer.

It came a day after appearing on another radio show to claim troublemakers were "literally making things up" and that he had the right to "call a spade a bloody shovel".

He later told reporters he had confronted Mr Jones because he was making "extravagant, outrageous, false, troublemaking allegations''.

"I'm not going to take a backwards step in my job of defending this government, this government's unity, this government's Budget."

The eyebrow-raising exchange, coming just a day after Mr Abbott flew overseas, alarmed some in Coalition ranks.

One suggested he had simply lost his temper and wasn't going to put up with further criticisms from Mr Bolt or Mr Jones - both of whom are close to Mr Abbott.

Alan Jones takes on Malcolm Turnbull on a range of topics from dinner with Clive Palmer to his support of the ABC. Courtesy The Alan Jones Breakfast Show/2GB

"This is just what he does,'' one MP said.

Another of his colleagues suggested he was struggling being out of the limelight, with Treasurer Joe Hockey sucking up most of the political oxygen in the wake of the Budget.

The only bright spot for the Government was the respite it provided from debating the merits of the May 13 budget, which Mr Turnbull acknowledged was "unpopular".

In parliament's Question Time, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten accused Mr Turnbull of "trying to sell his own credentials'' instead of the Budget's and Ministers Christopher Pyne and Julia Bishop frantically tried to wave on another question before Mr Turnbull could answer.

But the articulate former lawyer sprang to his feet and batted away the question, broadly defending the Budget by attacking Labor and their economic legacy.

The interview between Mr Turnbull and 730 host Sarah Ferguson sparked conversation on social media, with viewers wondering if he was still interested in running for the leadership one day.

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