Malcolm Turnbull attacks Scott Morrison over handling of bushfire crisis

The globe-trotting Malcolm Turnbull has delivered another public serve to the man who toppled him as leader, saying he was at a loss to explain the actions of Scott Morrison over his handling of the bushfire crisis.

In an interview with BBC on Wednesday, Turnbull said his successor had ample warning of the impending disaster, but had played down the likely consequences.

“Rather than doing what a leader should do… (Morrison) downplayed it, and at times discounted the influence of climate change, which is just nonsense from a scientific point of view,” Turnbull said.

“So that’s misleading people.”

“Then of course (he) chose to go away on holiday in Hawaii at the peak of the crisis. So I can’t explain any of that.

“It’s just not consistent with the way in which a prime minister would or should act in a national crisis like this.”

‘I can’t explain his conduct.’

Turnbull went on to excoriate Morrison for refusing to meet with former fire commissioners last year to discuss the tinder-dry conditions across much of the country and predictions of a disastrous summer of bushfires in 2019/2020.

“I mean to be very frank with you, I worked with him very closely, I’ve known him for 20 years at least, and I can’t explain his conduct,” he said.

The UK interview is the second public attack by Turnbull against Morrison in less than a week.

Last Thursday, the former PM penned an opinion piece in the US publication Time, slating partial blame for the bushfires at a toxic alliance of right-wing politicians within his own party.

Turnbull wrote in the opinion piece that his attempts to tackle climate change through his National Energy Guarantee (NEG) plan led to his downfall as leader, at the hands of his colleagues.

He accused Morrison of scrapping the NEG at the first possible chance he had once he became the 30th prime minister of Australia.

So far Morrison has refused to respond to his predecessor’s jibes.

Following both the Time publication the broadcast of the BBC interview, prime ministerial staffers responded to requests for comment by 7NEWS.com.au with a cursory “no thanks”.

While conceding that his misjudged decision to holiday with family in Hawaii during the bushfires had caused “great anxiety in Australia”, he has previously taken aim at opponents who have used the mistake to score political points against him.