Tensions between Australia’s prime minister and his predecessor have burst into the open after Malcolm Turnbull’s government called police in to investigate the leaking of classified defence documents.
The investigation follows a report in The Australian newspaper on the country’s plans to acquire a fleet of advanced submarines. It suggested that as premier Tony Abbott had planned to deploy the vessels at sea up to ten years before the 2030 deadline outlined in an official defence white paper presented by Mr Turnbull last week.
The front-page article, by Greg Sheridan, the foreign editor and a long-time friend of Mr Abbott, was accompanied by extensive comments from the former prime minister, who was replaced by Mr Turnbull following a Liberal party coup in September. In it Mr Abbott said he was angered at the lengthened timetable regarding the submarine deployment and was quoted as saying: “I am not just disappointed, I’m flabbergasted at this decision.”
He added that there was nothing more important to Australia’s defence than the rapid replacement of the existing and troubled Collins-class submarines which Mr Abbott described as “a fragile platform”.
Mr Abbott spoke of the need to stick to the earlier timetable in the draft white paper drawn up when he was prime minister: “This is vital for the defence of the nation; it is vital for our national self respect; it is vital for our national security.”
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Mr Abbott worked as a journalist on the newspaper before he entered parliament. He denied leaking a draft of the defence paper, saying: “I don’t leak, I don’t background. If I’ve got something to say, I say it.”
Mr Turnbull, clearly vexed by the alleged leak of classified defence documents, told parliament that both the Australian federal police and the defence department were investigating the source.
Anthony Albanese, the opposition Labor party frontbench MP, suggested that Mr Abbott was the source.
“Whether it’s Tony Abbott trying to literally torpedo his own government over subs and over dates and that extraordinary leak on the front page of The Australian ... this is a coalition that is in conflict with itself right across the policy spectrum,” he said.
Christopher Pyne, the industry minister, said the leak was very serious.
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“It’s a highly classified document. There are no more classified documents than ones that are in the national security committee, and therefore government will take this leak to The Australian very seriously,” Mr Pyne said.
Mr Sheridan later denied that Mr Abbott had leaked the documents to his newspaper.
“I have physical copies of it [the draft defence white papers] and look, I can say this much to you about the source ... the source wasn’t Tony Abbott,” he told Sky News.
Mr Turnbull hit back at the former prime minister’s assertions in the newspaper report, telling parliament that Mr Abbott’s claims were wrong.
“There has been no delay to the future submarine programme,” Mr Turnbull said.
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The row is the most public manifestations of tensions between the pair since Mr Turnbull ousted Mr Abbott. Mr Abbott publicly vowed not to undermine Mr Turnbull after he was removed.