Bitter dumped PM Malcolm Turnbull claims Scott Morrison’s 'cringe-worthy daggy dad' persona is fake and he DIDN'T DESERVE to win the election
- Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull contemplated suicide at one stage
- He struggled with his mental health quietly, telling only family and close friends
- Mr Turnbull has authored a memoir about his political life before he was ousted
- He criticised Scott Morrison and said he should not have won the 2019 election
Ex-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed his Liberal party colleagues, calling current leader Scott Morrison a 'daggy dad' and his rival Peter Dutton as a 'narcissist' and 'self-delusional'.
Mr Turnbull made the comments in his explosive new book called 'A Bigger Picture', which will go on sale next week.
He lead the Liberal party to victory in the 2016 federal election, before he was overthrown and replaced by Scott Morrison in 2018 - a man who Mr Turnbull believes never should have been elected to lead the nation.
Three days ago, Mr Turnbull shared a photo of the contents page, offering readers an insight into the 694-page book which will include chapters on the Abbott leadership, Barnaby Joyce's affair scandal involving a staffer, and finally, 'the coup' of 2018.
Mr Turnbull also documents his despair after losing the Liberal party leadership in 2009, confessing he became depressed and self destructive in the days and weeks to follow.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured with his wife, Lucy at a street party for the homeless) wrote a tell-all memoir detailing his time in politics
Mr Turnbull has since left politics all together. Pictured with his wife attending the opening of the Sydney Coliseum Theatre in December 2019
'For the first time in my life, suicidal thoughts started to enter my mind, unbidden and unwanted,' he wrote in the memoir.
His wife Lucy, two children and a handful of close friends were the only people who knew of his struggles with mental health and were 'horrified' at what he was going through.
Mr Turnbull explained he had periods of 'real gloom' in the past, but nothing like he was experiencing following the 2009 spill which saw Tony Abbott take over as the leader of the Opposition.
He contemplated giving up his political career entirely, but former Liberal PM John Howard encouraged him to persist.
When writing his memoir, Mr Turnbull stumbled across hidden diary entries he wrote during his darkest days.
'I feel at present an utter failure,' he wrote at one stage. 'I blame myself for losing the leadership, a job which by the time I lost it had become one of most excruciating pain and humiliation.'
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Mr Turnbull narrowly survived an initial leadership challenge before losing to Scott Morrison just days later. Pictured addressing the media following the first challenge
Pictured: Mr Turnbull shared the contents page of his tell-all memoir on Twitter ahead of the book's official release
Some of the explosive chapters are 'Barnaby and the bonk ban' and 'The coup', discussing his final days in politics
Mr Turnbull was medicated with anti-depressants. He said most did little to help and one made his condition particularly worse.
Eventually, he weened himself off the medication, and said that in doing so he became calmer and more self-aware.
'While I felt at times as though I was literally clawing myself out of the deepest pit, I also recognised that my depression had been preying on the self-absorbed side of my character,' he said.
In 2015, Mr Turnbull returned serve to Mr Abbott, by contesting the leadership of the Liberal party and winning, subsequently stepping into the role of prime minister and winning the election himself the following year.
But Mr Turnbull was again the subject of a leadership spill in 2018, campaigned this time by Peter Dutton, the current Home Affairs minister.
Mr Turnbull now spends his days focusing on being a grandparent (pictured: his grandson watching him and his wife read a bedtime story)
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull serves lunch at the Wayside Chapel Street Party for the poor and homeless in Kings Cross in Sydney on Christmas Day, 2018
The win eventually went to Mr Morrison, who then had to campaign for a federal election just months later.
It was dubbed the 'unloseable election' for the Labor party, and 'unwinnable' for Mr Morrison, but miraculously, he delivered a win against Bill Shorten.
According to Mr Turnbull, the Liberal party never should have won the 2019 election.
He criticised Mr Morrison's bid to portray himself as the 'daggy dad' from the suburbs during the election campaign as cringe-worthy.
'He's a professional politician who understands marketing and messaging better than most,' Mr Turnbull wrote in the memoir.
'His cringe-worthy 'daggy dad' persona is more exaggerated than it is conflated, but in net terms it probably helped.
'All that aside, however, the truth is that Labor lost the election that the coalition, after the August coup, did not deserve to win.'
Mr Turnbull also takes aim at his former cabinet colleagues, including Mr Morrison, for their roles in the coup that led to his resignation in August 2018.
According to The Australian, Mr Turnbull accuses Mr Morrison of double dealing in his bid to succeed him when he had had to be 'propped up' as treasurer.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, the coup leader, was a 'narcissist' and 'self-delusional' for thinking he could be prime minister, Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull said in the memoir he doesn't believe Scott Morrison (pictured together) deserved to be elected PM - and criticised the 'daggy dad' act
