Tense moment former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull snaps back at The Project star in VERY awkward exchange: ‘Shut up’

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has had a fiery exchange with one of the hosts of Channel 10’s The Project on Monday night. 

Mr Turnbull was invited on to discuss the ongoing saga of the AUKUS nuclear submarines, and said he feared Australia will never even get them despite the huge amount of money taxpayers are forking out.

As part of the $368billion deal, Australia would buy several nuclear-powered submarines from the United States – a major upgrade to its ageing Collins-class submarines – to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

However, Mr Turnbull explained the deal requires the US to withhold the subs for themselves if there is a shortfall in their own navy, and he described the whole process as ‘a fiasco’

This led the Project host Steve Price to have a crack at the former PM by asking him if he was still prime minister how would he feel about ‘an ex-prime minister coming out and talking like this at such a delicate time’ in the midst of heightened global tensions.

‘Obviously, Peter Dutton would like you to shut up and so would Albo (Anthony Albanese), presumably,’ Price said. 

A visibly shocked Mr Turnbull replied, ‘Well so would you presumably – but then you shouldn’t have asked me to come on the program.’

After the quick-witted response, it was Price who shut up and looked stunned, but eventually he joined the other hosts Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris in grinning at the on-air slap down.

Price then regrouped and got another dig in. He said it was not ‘his choice’ to have Mr Turnbull appear as a guest on the show.

Mr Turnbull was far from shutting up, though. ‘We believe in free speech in Australia,’ he said. ‘Every Australian is entitled to free speech, even former prime ministers.’ 

Harris then asked him what he would do about the nuclear submarines situation if he was prime minister again.

‘If I was in Albanese’s position, the one solution may be that we just don’t have any submarines, we have Australians serving on American submarines under and American flag.

‘But that’s a big loss to our sovereignty.’

He added that ‘the first thing you’ve got to do is tell the truth’, but claimed that politicians are not doing that. 

‘With respect to Steve (Price) who’d like me to say nothing, it’s one thing to say former prime ministers shouldn’t say anything… I’d like current prime ministers and wannabe prime ministers like Peter Dutton, to be actually open to being honest about this and say, ”Yes, there is a risk that we won’t get these subs”.’

Mr Turnbull said the possibility of the US keeping the subs is ‘in the legislation… it’s contemplated by the parties … but we’ve heard a big silence on that score’.

The former Liberal leader is not the only one to point out potential problems with the AUKUS nuclear subs agreement, with Greens leader Adam Bandt saying on Sunday that ‘It is billions of dollars that is being spent on submarines that might never arrive.’

He also claimed if Australia was involved in a conflict with China, it was unlikely the US would come to its aid.

‘Thinking that Donald Trump will ride to our rescue if there’s any security threat is now absolutely wishful thinking,’ Mr Bandt said.

What is AUKUS?

• AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States aimed at deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
• Up to $368billion will be spent on eight nuclear-powered submarines including three US Virginia-class nuclear submarines and a range of new SSN-AUKUS-class hybrid vessels.
• Australian submariners are already training in nuclear submarine technology in the US with the aim to eventually build the vessels on home soil by the 2040s.