'Taken over by extremists' Malcolm Turnbull's son urges voters to dump Liberals

Malcolm Turnbull’s son, Alex Turnbull, has urged voters not to support the Liberal party in the Wentworth byelection, saying the party had been taken over by “extremists”.

Alex Turnbull has previously indicated support for Labor’s candidate, Tim Murray, but in a video posted on social media on Thursday he made a dramatic intervention into the race for his father’s former seat.

Referring to the September leadership coup which saw his father lose power, Turnbull said parts of the Liberal party had been motivated by “a crazy agenda”.

“To me this particular event seems to show the Liberal party has been taken over frankly by extremists on the hard right who aren’t particularly motivated to win elections and aren’t particularly motivated to serve the public,” he said. “They’re just motivated by a crazy agenda.”

Citing the “terrifying” IPCC report on climate change, Turnbull highlighted the party’s seeming inability to secure a coherent energy policy as a particular failing.

“As an investor in energy I’ve seen that, in particular, there’s no way coal can compete anymore,” he said. “And yet still some would like to prosecute a culture war over this issue for whatever their reasons may be.”

The Singapore-based banker said the party needed to be sent a message.

“Some small-L liberals like myself are very upset and frankly conflicted due to the fact there seems to be no one we can reasonably vote for,” he said.

“But here’s the thing about the Wentworth byelection. We’re going to have an election in 12 months anyway [so] if you want to send a signal as to which way the Liberal party is going and your displeasure with where it is going, then this is your opportunity.

“Don’t vote for the Liberal party in the Wentworth byelection if you want to pull the Liberal party back from the brink. It’s the one clear signal you can send. Consider it an intervention for Australia, for the party and for Wentworth.”