Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blasted Karl Stefanovic during an on-air spat, calling the Today Show host "very patronising".
Mr Turnbull entered into a heated exchange with Stefanovic on Thursday morning after the host accused the prime minister of dodging questions over his leadership.
Stefanovic was questioning Mr Turnbull over the dual citizenship saga and asked if his party would survive the debacle. Instead, Mr Turnbull rattled off figures on employment.
“Despite all of the frenzy in the media — there has been plenty of frenzy — what we have seen is the creation in the last year of 371,500 jobs, 85 per cent of them full-time. We have had the longest run of job creation — monthly job creation in 23 years ...” Mr Turnbull said.
Before he could finish, Stefanovic interrupted the prime minister, sparking a heated exchange.
"PM, with the greatest respect, you are waffling this morning," Stefanovic said.
Mr Turnbull responded, calling him "very patronising".
"Karl, you have got a job. If you are looking for a job and you need a job and you have got one because of the strong economic leadership we provided, you may think it is waffling but if you have been unemployed and you are getting a chance to get ahead, you would say you are being very patronising saying young people getting jobs is waffle,” a fired-up Mr Turnbull said.
Stefanovic applauded the prime minister for showing the "real" leader and urged him on.
“Look at all the big issues we have dealt with recently. The same-sex marriage issue, the postal survey. Total support. It has gone out there," Mr Turnbull said.
“The national energy guarantee has overwhelming support in our party... that is the practical political economic leadership that Australians want and that’s what I’m delivering."
The on-air spat capped off a frustrating 24 hours for the prime minister after he failed to strike a deal with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over citizenship disclosure for all parliament representatives.
File image of PM Malcolm Turnbull Source: AAP
A meeting between the two leaders on Wednesday failed to find a solution to the problem, with both parties stressing the need to prevent the issue spilling into the new year.
Mr Turnbull reiterated his call for full citizenship status disclosure of politicians, requiring days - not weeks - for those disclosures to be considered.
