Peter Dutton has angrily denied claims by former foreign minister Bob Carr that he was the cabinet minister who leaked a series of text messages branding Prime Minister Scott Morrison a "complete psycho".
Mr Carr, a former Labor NSW premier, alleged in a tweet on Sunday night that it was the defence minister who shared the text exchange with then NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian during the 2019-20 bushfire crisis.
According to the texts, Ms Berejiklian, who has now left politics, branded Mr Morrison a "horrible, horrible person".
"The minister who shared the text with (Network Ten's Peter) van Onselen and gave permission to use it was Peter Dutton," Mr Carr posted on Twitter.
"If PM Morrison has one more week in free fall the prospect of a leadership change pre-election is real. Party rules don't count if most MPs think you will lead them to defeat."
Mr Dutton responded soon after with his own tweet to strongly reject Mr Carr's claim.
"Bob Carr's tweet is baseless, untrue and should be deleted," Mr Dutton said.
Mr Carr's tweet was still up on the social media platform on Monday morning.
Josh Frydenberg also dismissed Mr Carr's claims the texts came from Mr Dutton on Monday morning.
The treasurer told ABC News Breakfast Mr Carr was suffering "relativity deprivation syndrome".
"Bob Carr, when he was a foreign minister, was a waste of space," he said.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese urged whoever sent the text messages about the prime minister to come forward, but said the issue was overshadowing other important issues.
"This is such a distraction, the dysfunction and the dishonesty and disunity is meaning this government is paralysed in taking the action that really does concern Australia," he told the Seven Network.
"These are all distractions from what the prime minister's job is and what the government's job is."
The imbroglio comes as federal MPs converge on Canberra for one of the last sitting weeks before an expected federal election in May.
According to Ten, Ms Berejiklian labelled the prime minister a "horrible, horrible person" who was "actively spreading lies" during the text exchange with an unnamed cabinet minister.
"Lives are at stake today and he's just obsessed with petty political point scoring," she reportedly said in the texts exchanged during the Black Summer bushfires.
The unnamed minister called Mr Morrison a "complete psycho" and also described him as "desperate and jealous".
"The mob have worked him out and think he's a fraud."
Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack said Mr Carr was just second-guessing.
"I appreciate Peter Dutton's denied doing it. Let's leave it at that," he told the Nine Network.
Mr Morrison on Sunday shrugged off the text messages.
"What people send around in texts, I, frankly, could not care less about," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney after attending an "I4Give" service at the King's School Chapel.
"And frankly, Australians are far more interested in their jobs and their lives than what people are sending in text messages to each other."
He said he remains focused on leading the country through the pandemic and keeping the economy strong.
Members of Mr Morrison's cabinet have publicly supported their leader.
Nationals to have 'robust' discussions over Barnaby Joyce's text
On Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in which he called Scott Morrison "a hypocrite and a liar" during the time when he was a government backbencher.
The Nationals leader, who apologised to Mr Morrison in the wake of the texts emerging, said he had never worked one-on-one with the prime minister at the time the texts were sent to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in March 2021.
He said his private views about Scott Morrison have become more positive since he became deputy prime minister.
"Working one-on-one with him is a completely different scenario, I know him vastly better now," Mr Joyce told the Seven Network on Monday.
But Deputy Nationals leader David Littleproud says some members of his party think Mr Joyce is "too close" to the prime minister, despite the leaking of critical texts.
"I can honestly say that the relationship between Barnaby and Scott Morrison is close and in fact some Nats say it is too close," he told the ABC.
Mr Littleproud says Mr Joyce shouldn't offer his resignation to the Nationals party room when it meets on Monday but "robust" discussions would be had about the ordeal.
"Now the deputy prime minister will obviously come in and give us an explanation and set the record straight, but there is no mood for any change," he said.
Mr McCormack said Mr Joyce had some explaining to do over the leaked texts and indicated he would consider putting his hand up for the leadership if it came up again.
"If enough members of the party came to me and asked me to lead the party, I would seriously consider that," he told the ABC.
Former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd said on Sunday the the leak of a text in which the deputy prime minister had called the prime minister a liar had made Australia "a laughing stock".
He also described the government "a total shambles" and called on Mr Joyce to resign.
"The fact this is all over the world through the BBC makes the country into a laughing stock. While I agree with Joyce that Morrison is a liar, for God’s sake Barnaby just do the decent thing and resign. This government is now officially a total shambles,'" he tweeted.
With SBS News
