Queensland premier accuses PM of being arrogant and disrespectful, adding ‘When Tony Abbott was prime minister, I could get straight answers’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Queensland premier has unleashed an extraordinary attack on Malcolm Turnbull, saying he’s a shallow thinker who doesn’t understand his job as prime minister.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has branded Turnbull an arrogant and disrespectful leader, and now believes he’s a worse prime minister than Tony Abbott.

“All we’ve seen lately is a fly-in, fly-out prime minister who is espousing thought bubbles without any deep policy conversation,” she told reporters on Sunday.

The premier said it took a lot to get her angry, but she was fed up with Turnbull’s approach to national leadership.

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“I am at breaking point. I am sticking up for the people of this state,” she said. “At times I think he forgets he is the prime minister of a federation of states that should be working together.”

In an earlier interview with the Sunday Mail, the premier said Turnbull was far more difficult to deal with than Abbott. “I now believe Malcolm Turnbull is worse than Tony Abbott,” she said. “When Tony Abbott was prime minister, I could get straight answers. I didn’t always like what he had to say, but he stuck to it.”

The premier’s scathing assessment of Turnbull’s performance will make for a very frosty meeting in Townsville on Monday, for a Battle of the Coral Sea memorial.

Palaszczuk said Turnbull didn’t even bother to contact her when he flew into Brisbane to announce his recent gas plan.

“It’s about time that he showed some leadership and was respectful, not just to me but to all the other premiers across the nation.”