PM appears on 7.30 and claims if re-elected it will be him driving the agenda rather than the Liberal party’s conservative faction

Scott Morrison has acknowledged that the budget is currently in deficit despite the “back in black” marketing of the April economic statement, and has declared he will have the upper hand in policy development, not the roiling factions of the Liberal party, if the Coalition is re-elected on 18 May.

Morrison acknowledged the budget was in deficit this year the fourth time he was asked on the ABC on Monday night to confirm that basic fact. “The accounts, as of right now, are still in deficit and next year they go into surplus and it’s taken us 12 years to get there,” the Liberal leader said.

He rebuffed suggestions the Coalition’s agenda for government was thin, and asked by host Leigh Sales who would have the upper hand in policy development post-election – the conservatives who orchestrated Malcolm Turnbull’s downfall, or the mainstream of the Liberal party – Morrison declared he would drive the agenda. “I will.”

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Morrison refused to criticise the National party for entering preference deals with One Nation. Asked why the Coalition was prepared to normalise the values and activities of the far right, the Liberal leader said: “That’s a matter for the National party.”

Asked whether he had expressed any dissatisfaction to the Nationals leadership over the preference tie-ups, Morrison indicated he hadn’t. “I respect the National party to make their own decisions.”

He continued to insist that it was fine for the Liberal party to do a preference deal with the controversial businessman Clive Palmer’s United Australia party and that arrangement was more respectable than Labor preferencing the Greens.

When it was put to him that the Greens’ policies were based in science and evidence, and the party were not racists, Morrison demurred. “Richard Di Natale thinks it’s OK for people to invade farms – I don’t think that’s terribly sensible.

“Richard Di Natale supports death taxes. Richard Di Natale wants a 100% renewable target, which will basically crash our economy, and I don’t think that’s sensible at all.”

Morrison defended the government’s record on climate policy despite the trend of rising emissions that followed Tony Abbott’s decision to repeal the carbon price. Asked why voters would trust the Coalition’s record on climate policy, Morrison said Australia would meet its 2020 targets, and there had been a surge in investment in renewable energy.

Asked why Turnbull was no longer the prime minister given Morrison’s upbeat account of the government’s achievements, the Liberal leader said his predecessor lost the confidence of the Liberal party room and “they changed prime ministers”.

He said he had ensured the rule change that meant the party room would not roll another leader, so the dynamic had been fixed.

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Morrison also deflected when asked whether he would be able to welcome former leaders to the Coalition’s campaign launch this Sunday, as Bill Shorten did at the ALP’s weekend event, which saw a public display of rapprochement between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

“It’s not a hoopla event,” Morrison said. “It’s not about the Liberal or the National party”

“Labor’s launch was very much about the Labor party. I just want to have a conversation with people on Sunday directly about the choice.

“It’s not about who’s coming. It’s about who will be listening, and my opportunity to set out to them once again the choice at this election.”