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Malcolm’s caught in the middle

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull continues to deflect questions about a possible leadership challenge, saying his focus is on the New South Wales state election.

Speaking to reporters outside his Sydney home this morning, Mr Turnbull said the NSW poll was expected to go right down to the wire and nobody should assume Premier Mike Baird was safe.

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“The big political question in the next four weeks is the New South Wales state election,” he said.

“It’s absolutely critical, both for NSW and indeed for all of Australia, that the Baird Government is returned.

“We have to have a laser-like focus on the return of the Baird Government.”

Mr Turnbull indicated he was concerned about the impact of federal issues on the state poll, urging voters not to take out their frustrations with the Abbott Government on Mr Baird.

“I stress, do not assume, nobody should assume, that Mike Baird is an absolute certainty to win, he is not,” he said.

“It’s going to be close and anyone who votes Labor in this state election as a protest against the feds should know that their vote may very well be the one that puts the Eddie Obeid party back into office.”

While Mr Turnbull was trying to shift the focus onto the NSW poll, the federal leadership speculation continued to dominate talk in Canberra.

Mr Abbott survived a leadership spill motion 61 votes to 39 just over a fortnight ago but the Prime Minister’s party room critics are growing anxious about his ability to change.

Both frontbenchers and backbenchers have told the ABC they believe Mr Turnbull now has the numbers to win a leadership challenge and should use them.

When asked this morning whether he would challenge Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull said he did not want to “engage in a hypothetical discussion”.

“Whatever questions people have about me, or Tony Abbott or Julie Bishop or Joe Hockey or Scott Morrison or anybody in the federal party, whatever federal issues they’ve got, the state election is not the time to be responding to them,” he said.

“The state election is about the state government, it’s not about Tony Abbott it’s about Mike Baird.”

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