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Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull has done little to allay leadership speculation after carefully deflecting questions in a coy appearance on ABC's Q&A.
The one-time leader of the Liberal party, who was tipped to replace Prime Minister Tony Abbott if a leadership spill came to fruition last week, delivered a thinly-veiled criticism of the sacking of chief whip Philip Ruddock and refused to say whether he would step up to the plate if the leader's position became vacant.
Watchers declared Monday night's episode the 'Malcolm Turnbull Show' but fellow panelists seemed happy to listen as Mr Turnbull dominated air time to discuss leadership speculation, the controversial Human Rights Commission report into children in detention and the nation's debt.
His appearance drew widespread applause from the show's rabid Twitter following, who didn't miss his less-than-subtle criticisms of the Prime Minister.
Great performance by Malcolm Turnbull tonight on
#QandA — Peter van Onselen (@vanOnselenP)
February 16, 2015
Just tuned in to
#qanda. Is Turnbull Prime Minister yet? — Richard Hinds (@rdhinds)
February 16, 2015
Malcolm Turnbull did say "I want to be Frank". RT
@MitchellToy: Great panel on
#qanda tonight.
#auspol
#libspill
pic.twitter.com/IjcYUllPBc — Neil Walker (@MediaMook)
February 16, 2015
Mr Turnbull said he didn't agree with Tony Abbott's decision to sack Mr Ruddock, who he said was well-loved, well-respected and highly esteemed by all of the Liberal Party.
"Tony Abbott as Prime Minister is entitled to appoint and replace the chief whip as and when he wishes, that's his call. But to say I was very sad to see the announcement, I think, well, it was Tony's call so he's the one who has to explain it. But I just want to say I think Philip Ruddock is a great Liberal, a great parliamentarian and it was a very sad day for us all."
Ruddock, a highly regarded party veteran, was sacked because the Prime Minister wanted to strengthen his relationship with backbenchers, Mr Abbott said at the weekend.
Q&A host Tony Jones said Abbott's decision to announce the sacking late on a Friday afternoon - known among journalists as "take out the trash day," he said - suggested Abbott knew it would be unpopular and wanted to minimise attention.
Mr Turnbull described it as a "captain's call", a cheeky reference to the autonomous decision-making that nearly ended Mr Abbott's prime ministership.
"I'm not going to run a commentary on the Prime Minister's decisions. He's the boss, he's the captain, he can make a captain's call, that's his description of it, it's true," he said. "Whether the decisions are right or wrong, time and public opinion ... will determine."
This is one of the better single-guest
#qanda episodes — Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie)
February 16, 2015
Was there any need for any other panelist tonight? Let's be honest.
#QAndA — Latika Bourke (@latikambourke)
February 16, 2015
His use of the term "captain's call" to describe Mr Abbott bringing the spill motion forward by a day last week was also interpreted as a subtle criticism.
Abbott's previous "captain's calls", like the unpopular knighting of Prince Phillip, were thought to have brought on the leadership spill.
Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian and a close friend of Mr Abbott's, said the Prime Minister had a 50/50 chance of staying as leader and, if he were to lose support, the party would undoubtedly install Mr Turnbull.
Mr Turnbull was coy in response, saying: "I suspect [the public] have got more important things to worry about"
"Tempting though it is to venture into the minefield you're luring me into, I think I'll pass on this one," he said, before changing the subject to question Labor about how it would fix the budget.
Today Show co-presenter and journalist Lisa Wilkinson played host momentarily, grilling Mr Turnbull on why he went into the leadership spill meeting on his own and whether he made the single informal vote.
"You looked a bit like Noddy No-friends," she said of the images of a lone Mr Turnbull walking down the corridors of Parliament House last Monday.
Mr Turnbull said he has never made an informal vote and he entered the party room meeting alone because he wasn't challenging anybody.
"I feel safe in Parliament House and I'm quite happy to wander around the corridors by myself," he joked.
Mr Turnbull sought to repair some of the damage done by the Abbott government following the release of the Human Rights Commission's damning report on children in immigration detention.
Mr Abbott branded the report a "transparent stitch-up" and his government sought the resignation of the commission's president Gillian Triggs.
Mr Turnbull was applauded for bringing the focus back to the 136 children still in detention.
"The real issue here is the children," he said. "[We] have reduced the number of children in detention by 90 per cent... Judge us by our actions."
Turnbull providing a perfectly cogent response to the Human Rights Commission report without attacking the commission
#qanda — Matthew Knott (@KnottMatthew)
February 16, 2015
His final remarks, in response to a question about what both parties can do to restore faith in politics, sounded more like a Prime Minister making his pitch to the nation.
"I think firstly you have to set out a vision... describe where you want to go. What's this all about? What is your goal? You've got to explain that. Then you've got to explain honestly, not dumbing it down... the problems that we face. What is the problem with the budget? What is the problem with the NBN... Explain it and lay it out factually and then lay out what the options are," he said.
"I think the government and opposition should be prepared to put their cards on the table and actually have a debate... You never know, out of that debate you might come up with a third solution that is better than either of those."
Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said both sides of politics needed to take a step back from "constantly harping at each other".
