Turnbull let fly in tirade at PM Abbott

MALCOLM Turnbull gave Tony Abbott a scathing, expletive-ridden assessment of his prime ministership in a rant aboard a government plane after the pair and several ministers attended a booze-fuelled, celebrity-studded Sydney party.

Fourteen months before he snatched the prime ministership, Mr Turnbull pulled the ripcord on Mr Abbott in a vitriolic spray on a plane with three ministers and five Coalition staff members.

The critique was so venomous that several sources claim it even included the C-bomb.

But a spokesman for Mr Turnbull said last night he does not use that sort of language.

News Corp Australia, publisher of the Mercury, today can reveal how one of the great untold clashes between the Liberal Party heavyweights unfolded aboard the plush, wood-panelled VIP plane heading to Canberra after The Australian newspaper’s 50th birthday party in Sydney on July 15, 2014.

Earlier in the night, Mr Turnbull was seated alongside Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch, James Packer, Kerry Stokes and then NSW premier Mike Baird at the event.

Mr Abbott sat at the head table beside Rupert Murdoch, former prime ministers John Howard and Paul Keating, for- mer Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens and Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also attended the dinner, along with Jeanne and Anthony Pratt, Qantas chief Alan Joyce and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett.

When the dinner was over, Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull and cabinet ministers Julie Bishop, Joe Hockey and George Brandis boarded a late-night VIP flight back to Canberra for the rest of the parliamentary sitting week.

The group continued the “jolly” atmosphere, drinking wine during the plane flight.

Mr Turnbull is understood to have already had a few drinks at The Australian 50th birthday party but Mr Abbott, who delivered a speech, limited his alcohol intake.

Fresh from socialising with Australia’s business and media elite, Mr Turnbull had sharp words for Mr Brandis on policy and then let loose at Mr Abbott.

At the end of the flight, as they were about to disembark, Mr Turnbull is said to have given Mr Abbott a blistering assessment of his prime ministership — telling him he was “hopeless” and accusing him of being a “disloyal c...”.

One source who was on board the flight, who declined to be named, has described Mr Turnbull’s comments as “belligerent”.

“What I can recall at the end of the flight were some words where Turnbull berated Abbott in front of three of Abbott’s staffers to the words to the effect of, ‘ You’re the most disloyal c... I’ve ever met’,” the source said.

Sources close to Mr Turnbull recalled a heated discussion over policy.

The AFP officer who was within earshot is understood to have later raised the incident with Mr Abbott, but the then prime minister dismissed any concerns.

News Corp has been told Mr Abbott also asked his cabinet colleagues and staff not to mention Mr Turnbull’s accusations again.

“He said he didn’t want it spoken about,” one source said.

Mr Abbott has declined to comment.