Malcolm Turnbull is ashamed of himself for giving up his principles to roll Tony Abbott and should resign, former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke says.
Speaking at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland on Friday, Mr Hawke also told the alternative crowd nuclear power was a potential solution to climate change and Australia’s refusal to store the world’s nuclear waste is robbing indigenous people of a source of income, The Courier-Mail reports.
The wideranging discussion also covered off Mr Hawke’s views on the guaranteed way to win a republic vote (wait until Queen Elizabeth’s reign ends before delivering a “kick in her ancient dentures”) and indigenous poverty (“The greatest stain on this great nation”)
The former PM, who appeared on stage, also reportedly offered Mr Turnbull some career advice: smarten up or go.
“I have a theory that Malcolm is basically ashamed, by that I mean Malcolm had to give up certain issues that he believed in to get the numbers to roll Tony Abbott,” Fairfax quotes Mr Hawke as saying.
“I generally think Malcolm is ashamed of that, and if you’re ashamed of what you’ve done to get the leadership it’s a pretty unsound basis for leadership.”
