He wanted to talk about national security and the economy, but Jones was persisting with issues Turnbull argued the voters would not be interested in – like his fraying relationship with predecessor Tony Abbott. Malcolm Turnbull: "I'm not into slogans". Is Abbott "playing Kevin Rudd to your Julia Gillard?" Jones asked. Could Turnbull end up facing "that same kind of psycho-drama" in the upcoming election, he added. Things got off to a tense start when Jones asked the Prime Minister about cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos being caught up in accusations that the NSW branch of the Liberal Party deliberately concealed the identity of major donors to the 2011 election campaign. Five questions in, Turnbull started complaining about the lack of airtime for national security (which had also been allocated five questions), so Jones moved on to another unhappy subject for the Prime Minister – that he accidentally copied a slogan made up for political sitcom Veep specifically because it was so meaningless.

Jones: "Are you going to change your slogan 'continuity and change' now that you've realised how silly it is?" Tony Jones: Is Tony Abbott "playing Kevin Rudd to your Julia Gillard?" Turnbull: "Well, it's not a slogan and I'm certainly not into slogans." Jones: "Well, a slogan is a phrase used repeatedly. A short memorable phrase used in political campaigning. So, I'd have to say it is a slogan because you used it repeatedly." Illustration Ron Tandberg

Turnbull: "No, I've not used that slogan. I've subsequently learned that there was a slogan used in the American sitcom Veep – change with continuity or continuity with change." Jones: "Which they chose incidentally because it was the most meaningless election slogan they could think of. Does this reflect on your own choices?" Turnbull: "Well, it really reflects on your choices that we've spent so little time on national security and now we're talking about an American sitcom". The next topic was "the ghosts of governments past" – more specifically named Tony Abbott, and the pair again spent time arguing if the issue was one that should be given extensive airtime. Turnbull insisted that the only Australian that was interested in the ghosts of governments past was Jones himself and that voters instead wanted to know about was which party was best able to manage the economy.

The Prime Minister had a similarly dim view of questions about his cabinet colleagues leaking stories to the media. "Well Tony the fact of the matter is that this is of great interest to you, just as Tony Abbott is of great interest to you, but the matter that is of interest to me and to my colleagues in the cabinet and to the Australian people is the economic future of this country," Turnbull said. He said his relationship with Treasurer Scott Morrison was close and his cabinet had been noted for having no leaks "of substance". It was Turnbull's first appearance on Lateline since becoming Prime Minister. He may not be back in a hurry. Follow us on Twitter