Asked whether he criticised Mr Morrison for that, Mr Turnbull replied: "My view, and I'm a retired member of Parliament and just a member of the Liberal Party....my view is that it would be manifestly in the best interests and prospects of the Morrison government to go to the polls as soon as it can after the summer break. Loading "In fact my intention, and Scott's intention for that matter, prior to my being removed as prime minister was to go to the polls on March 2 and that would be exactly three weeks before the NSW state election." "Morrison has got to judge the right timing for an election but you would understand there is a real concern in NSW Liberal circles that a very good, outstanding government led by Gladys Berejiklian is going to have its prospects of success diminished because of the brand damage to the Liberal Party caused by the leadership change in August."

A poll published by Fairfax Media on Saturday found the Berejiklian government trails Labor 49 to 51 on a two-party preferred basis. The polling put new Opposition leader Michael Daley well ahead as preferred premier, with more than 54 per cent of voters saying Mr Daley would make a better premier than Ms Berejiklian. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The UComms/ReachTel state-wide poll of 1557 voters taken on Thursday night revealed that 50 per cent of people say the ongoing woes of the Morrison government would impact their vote. Mr Turnbull said he had decided to go public because conversations he had with some members on Sunday were leaked and he felt he had no choice but to put his views on the record without them being misrepresented by others.

Loading In a direct challenge to Mr Morrison's claim that the Australian public had moved on from the August leadership convulsions, Mr Turnbull on Monday said: "I know there has been this proposition put around that nobody is really interested in the leadership change or the internal machinations of the Liberal Party. Well, the fact is they are, and it has done a lot of brand damage to the Liberal Party and that is something the party has to work through. There's no point being mealy-mouthed about it or pretending that damage hasn't been done." Mr Turnbull said demands he be a "Trappist monk" were unreasonable and he was entitled to speak out on party matters despite leaving Parliament. The former prime minister spectacularly intervened on Sunday to block a plan by Mr Morrison to save the career of conservative backbencher Craig Kelly, who was threatening to move to the crossbench should he be dumped by local members in an upcoming preselection. Powerbrokers wanted to use the NSW state executive's emergency powers to cancel preselections across the state, which would have saved Mr Kelly.

The plan sparked a furious response from moderate MPs and Mr Turnbull spent much of Sunday telephoning senior party figures urging them not to support the proposal, which has now collapsed. "To give in to a threat to 'bring down the government' by someone who claims to be 'a real Liberal' is extraordinary," Mr Turnbull said on Monday. "I mean what the Prime Minister should be doing if Mr Kelly has made that threat, he should stand up to him and say 'if you want to go to the crossbench and create trouble that's your responsibility. People have got to take responsibility for their own actions." Mr Turnbull said his intervention was based on principle and not payback for Mr Kelly's role in the demise of the National Energy Guarantee, which precipitated the crisis that ended Mr Turnbull's leadership in August. Asked on Monday whether he recognised his public statements would be seen by some MPs as an attempt to destablise the government, Mr Turnbull said: "That is what I have described as attribution bias. That is blaming other people for the consequences of your own actions.