Malcolm Turnbull has become emotional as he discussed his late father with a group of school students in Sydney, revealing he buried his father in the front garden of the family farm because he “couldn’t bear to be parted from him”.

During a visit to South Coogee Public School on Friday, Mr Turnbull drew gasps from the young children as he spoke about his father, Bruce, being killed in an aeroplane crash in 1982.

“I was very, very close to my father because my mum left us when I was actually about your age … and so my dad brought me up,” Mr Turnbull said, telling the 10-year-old students his father had a cattle farm in the NSW Hunter Valley.

“He was like my big brother … We were just two guys living together. He taught me how to cook, not nearly as well as my wife Lucy I might add, but he also taught me how to iron and clean up.”

Source: Facebook/Malcolm Turnbull

Mr Turnbull spoke quietly to the 20 young students and folded his arms as he sat in a chair in front of a whiteboard, sharing with them the emotional story of how and when he lost his father.

“He was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1982 when I was 28 and he was 56 so it was very, very sudden and it was a terrible tragedy as you can imagine. So what I did was I buried him in the front garden of his property because I couldn’t bear to be parted from him.

“So I never sold it (the farm) … we’ve kept it and maintained it. It’s going well. It’s a good property.”

Mr Turnbull also discussed the challenges of being a politician and how he isn’t scared to meet world leaders including US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, and more recently French president Emmanuel Macron.

He spent several minutes talking up the merits of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 scheme, drawing diagrams on a nearby whiteboard, and concluded his talk with hope that he got them “interested” in renewable energy.

The 25-minute classroom visit was broadcast live on Mr Turnbull’s official Facebook page and finished with a round of applause for the PM.