Leigh Sales interviewing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The broad-sweeping 22-minute interview was a chance to set the groundwork for Australia's 29th PM, who had been in the job for less than a week.

Tweets unhappy with Sales for allowing a relaxed Turnbull to waffle on were eclipsed only by the criticisms of the waffling itself. Turnbull spoke of a "paradigm shift" he planned to instill in Australia's political discourse that would do away with the "Canberra games" of ruling in and ruling out every incremental decision for a hungry media. And he proceeded to do so by speaking at length about the South China Sea, direct action, and himself.

But the clincher for critics was Sales' apology after she interjected mid-waffle. Sales: "I'm sorry I'm laughing, but you're not at the dispatch box and you're not at the bar, so I've got to squeeze in one more question before we run out of time." Turnbull: "One more question. Sorry, sorry, sorry." Sales: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry to be rude like that too."

Turnbull: "You're not being rude at all. It's quite understandable." Sales: "The - no, no, I did cut you directly off." Turnbull: "That's fine."

Perhaps Turnbull was the most surprised by the tenor of the interview, considering his recent criticism of Sales for her "very aggressive" interview style. In May, Turnbull recommended Sales and fellow ABC journalist Emma Alberici adopt a "more forensic" approach to quizzing politicians. "He's free to have an opinion on whether he thought the interview was aggressive, but it won't change the way I do interviews," Sales told Fairfax Media at the time. The sting in the tail of viewers frustrated by the interview was that it was followed by an Australian Story episode plotting Turnbull's rise to the prime ministership.

Sales has been criticised and praised in fairly equal measure for her piercing interviews with former prime minister Tony Abbott and former treasurer Joe Hockey. But claims of bias don't go too far, when the host also cops flack for being too kind to Mr Abbott. In December 2014 Sales was accused of administering Mr Abbott with a "fluffy interview" that had "no brakes applied". Last month, Sales was cleared of bias by the independent media watchdog for a controversial post-budget interview with Mr Hockey that was queried by then-Communications Minister Mr Turnbull. In that interview, Sales accused Mr Hockey of "backflips", "hand-outs" and making "excuses", and was accused of being less aggressive in her post-budget interview with shadow treasurer Chris Bowen.

News reports at the time described the interview as "brutal", "bruising" and "acrimonious". However, an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates broadcast media, found Sales was fair in her treatment of Mr Hockey.