Indigenous leader Warren Mundine insists Malcolm Turnbull isn’t his "enemy" despite accusing the Prime Minister of having no interest in Indigenous affairs and lacking a cause.
Tensions between the pair have been laid bare in a new book by the former head of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council.
Mr Mundine claims Mr Turnbull telephoned him in "white hot anger" after hearing an interview in which he revealed the pair hadn’t spoken in months.
Mr Mundine says Mr Turnbull rang him 20 minutes later because he "made him look bad in the media".
"We didn’t discuss... my concerns about Indigenous affairs policy. His main interest was about what I said about him on the ABC," Mr Mundine writes in his memoir Warren Mundine in Black and White: Race, Politics and Changing Australia, due for release in November.
Mr Mundine says he never established a close working relationship with Mr Turnbull.
Mr Mundine claims Malcolm Turnbull, pictured, telephoned him in "white hot anger". Source: AAP
"I don’t believe he has any real interest in Indigenous affairs," he writes.
"Of the five prime ministers whose governments I’ve worked with in an official capacity, every single one expressed what I saw to be a genuine interest in making a difference in this area – except Turnbull."
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Mr Mundine said it was unclear what the prime minister was passionate about.
"I still don’t know what he stands for," he writes.
"If Turnbull pursued a vision and the concerns of ordinary people as determinedly and passionately as he has pursued the prime ministership, he might be a different kind of prime minister."
Speaking to NITV on Tuesday, Mr Mundine said he maintains contact with Mr Turnbull but said he [Mundine] could be "brutal in his honesty".
"People in leadership positions, you sit with people you don’t necessarily agree with," he said.
Mr Mundine quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, saying friends aren’t made with friends but with enemies.
Warren Mundine says the prime minister has no interest in Indigenous affairs. Source: Rashida Yosufzai
"Not saying he [Turnbull] is my enemy," he added.
"He’s the government and I’ve got to deal with the government."
Indigenous voice to parliament ‘never going to happen’
Mr Mundine also said he wasn’t surprised that the government rejected the recommendation for an Indigenous voice to parliament, citing conversations he’d had with both sides of politics.
"I knew this was going to happen," he said.
"The reason for that is, I keep my ears to the ground."
There was never any bipartisan support for such a proposal, he said.
"I knew it was going to be a problem; it was always going to be a problem. Not in terms of a chamber or an advisory board, we could do that tomorrow in parliament."
"They told me that a couple of weeks ago, they told me that months ago, they told me two years ago."
He said the "problem" with constitutional change was getting both parliament and politicians on board.
Any proposal would have to gain at least 70 per cent of the people’s vote, he said.
"If you don’t get that then you will fall short on the majority."
