Malcolm Turnbull has accused his Liberal Party critics of classic signs of “paranoia” after they accused him of secretly plotting against the government and working closely with independent MP Kerryn Phelps.

The former prime minister returned serve on his favoured platform, Twitter, after a front page article accused him of operating as “an invisible hand” to bring down the Morrison government.

Clearly referring to the August leadership coup, Mr Turnbull accused his critics of making things up.

“Attribution bias – blaming others for the consequences of your own actions is a common symptom of paranoia,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Imagining ‘invisible’ people are out to get you is also a classic symptom. Not often on the front page of course.”

Attribution bias – blaming others for the consequences of your own actions is a common symptom of paranoia. Imagining “invisible” people are out to get you is also a classic symptom. Not often on the front page of course… pic.twitter.com/HZoHLpfrGg — Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) November 28, 2018

The Australian article quoted an unnamed Liberal source claiming Mr Turnbull’s “hands are all over the Julia Banks” resignation.

Another unnamed source is quoted stating “the contact between Dr Phelps and Mr Turnbull “speaks for itself and confirms everybody’s suspicions”, adding that “there are suspicions he is in contact with others”.

However, a spokesman for Dr Phelps told the newspaper that Mr Turnbull’s messages were about “protecting the interests of his former constituents, including sporting clubs and the like”.



“She has been in touch with him, but certainly not several times a day; not daily and it’s been almost exclusively about constituency matters,” Darrin Barnett told The Australian.

“He just wanted a smooth transition for his EO (electorate office).”

Mr Turnbull has been on the warpath over The Australian’s reporting. His previous tweet at 7.09pm Wednesday night also complained about the publication.



“It was Mark Twain who said ‘Only fiction has to be credible,'” he wrote, adding that The Australian’s assertion that moderates “blew up the government” outdid George Orwell in their spin.