Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces “deep questions concerning his honesty and the integrity of his dealings with the Australian people,” former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said following the leaked transcript published by the 'Washington Post' of the call between the Australian leader and US President Donald Trump.
The transcript showed the two leaders discussing a refugee exchange-deal struck in late 2016 by Mr Turnbull with the previous US President, Barack Obama.
Mr Trump described the deal - which involves the US settling 1,250 people from Australia’s offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru, labelled as "economic refugees" by the PM - as “horrible,” “disgusting", and “an embarrassment to the United States of America."
He then expressed his frustration with Mr Turnbull.
“I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.”
During an interview with CNN, Mr Rudd said the PM was already on shaky ground with the Australian people.
“He’s seen as transactional in terms of basically abrogating core principles that he once stood for.”
“And then as part of the swap, I think what most Australians will find new news is what Mr Turnbull has referred to, which is that ‘we’ll take any body that you want to send to us’”.
Mr Rudd was quick to condemn the leak, while also acknowledging his own record in having diplomatically-sensitive information revealed.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tells CNN that the current PM Malcolm Turnbull has been "loose with the truth". Source: CNN newsource image grab
“The first thing is this never should have happened in the sense that diplomatic communications and diplomatic records of conversations between heads of government should never be leaked. In my case they end up getting leaked by Wikileaks,” he said in reference to a 2010 cable which showed he had warned Hillary Clinton to be prepared to use force against China if necessary.
Mr Rudd said the leak was likely to have little impact on US and Australia’s relationship, nor Mr Trump’s reputation.
He was, however, damning when asked what the fallout was likely to be for the Prime Minister domestically.
“I think the real unfolding dynamic from this extraordinary conversation is PM Turnbull having being loose with the truth in his dealings with the Australian people," Mr Rudd said.
"For this now to come out, and for him self-describe himself as a transactional businessman in his dealings with the US administration I think is going to put enormous pressure on him in the Liberal Party, the political party of which he’s head, and where he’s already under challenge. So I think this is going to be the first of a series of very long days for Mr Turnbull.”
Kevin Rudd used an interview in America to flag instability for PM Malcolm Turnbull's leadership in coming days. Source: CNN newsource image grab
