Malcolm Turnbull triggered a confrontation over the role of the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at the height of the Liberal Party’s leadership spill last August in a previously undisclosed dispute that threatened to turn into a constitutional crisis.

In a high-stakes drama during a week of upheaval, the former prime minister argued with then Attorney-General Christian Porter over whether the Governor-General should play a decisive role in the leadership spill.

Mr Turnbull argued the Governor-General should reject Peter Dutton as the new leader of the government if the then Home Affairs Minister won the ballot set down for Friday, August 24, on the grounds he might be ineligible to sit in Parliament.

The former prime minister also came close to putting this position in public at a press conference, signalling his advice to the Governor-General if the Liberal party room chose Mr Dutton.