In an apparent leaked, private text message exchange, former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian allegedly described Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a “horrible” person.
At the National Press Club on Tuesday, Network 10 journalist Peter Van Onselen read out a text message exchange he alleged was sent between Berejiklian and a current Liberal cabinet minister.
Van Onselen says the text message exchange shows Berejiklian describing Morrison as a “horrible, horrible person”. He also alleges Berejiklian wrote in the text exchange that she did not trust Morrison and he was more interested in politics than people.
According to Van Onselen, the unnamed Liberal minister wrote to Berejiklian that Morrison was a “fraud” and a “complete psycho”.
“I’ve got them right here,” Van Onselen told Morrison at the National Press Club. “In one she describes you as “a horrible, horrible person,” going on to say she did not trust you and you’re more concerned with politics than people. The minister is even more scathing, describing you as a “fraud” and “a complete psycho”.
Asked what he thought of the alleged texts, Morrison replied: “Well, I don’t know who you’re referring to. Or the basis of what you’ve put to me. But I obviously don’t agree with it. And I don’t think that is my record.”
Late last year, Morrison publicly urged Berejiklian to consider a tilt for the federal seat of Warringah. After a whirlwind of media excitement, Berejiklian said she had no intention of running for federal politics. She currently faces an inquiry by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Morrison has often described Berejiklian as a friend.