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Scott Morrison has retreated from questions about his awkward public clash with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The conflict flared when the prime minister claimed Mr Turnbull over-stepped his brief during an official visit to Indonesia, where he spoke about trade and warned against moving Australia’s embbady in Israel.
Mr Morrison was forced to correct the record after the former prime minister revealed he was given a briefing on the two issues and explicitly asked to discuss them in Bali.
Less than 24 hours after the humiliating backdown, Mr Morrison was desperate to put the shambolic episode to bed.
“I dealt with all those issues yesterday,” he told reporters in Sydney, before calling an end to his press conference.
“Thanks very much, ta, thank you.”
Earlier, cabinet minister Christopher Pyne tried to laugh off the prickly exchange.
“Well, nice try, but we’re focused as a government on the economy and jobs,” he told the Nine Network.
“We’re not going to become distracted by these kinds of peripheral issues.”
Mr Pyne denied it was a bad look for a sitting and former prime minister to be butting heads in public, and rejected suggestions the coalition would be punished for its internal disunity at the next election.
“We are getting on with the job and the public realise it,” he said.
“They are tuning out of the soap opera of politics and they are focused on the choice at the next election.”
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said it was time for the government to enforce a “mercy rule” used in junior football games.
“They’re an absolute rabble, they’re a mess,” Mr Albanese said.
“It’s time that they actually, I think, went to an election and put themselves out of their misery.”
Originally published as Morrison retreats from Turnbull questions
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