The former prime minister says an increasing proportion of Liberals and Nationals are living in a "right-wing, fact-free, culture war bubble of anger-tainment".
During his time in politics, Mr Turnbull was unable to persuade a group of mostly Nationals politicians it was unfeasible to build multiple state-funded coal power stations when the economics favoured renewables.Â
The group, including newly installed Nationals leader Matt Canavan and now-One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, were not interested in the financials, he said.
"It's religion for them," Mr Turnbull said at Sydney Climate Action Week.
"That's basically the problem, they are unshackled from reality."
Senator Canavan, a vocal critic of net zero, has taken on the leadership of the Nationals following David Littleproud's shock resignation on Tuesday.
Laying out his energy policy position in a press conference, Senator Canavan said lower power prices should always take precedence over climate or renewables targets.
"That is not the goal of this government. Their goal is to meet arbitrary emissions or renewable energy targets which are not delivering for the Australian people," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Australia is transitioning away from a grid powered by coal-fired electricity generation to a network dominated by renewables and storage.
The federal government is pursuing clean energy to meet its climate goals and to replace ageing coal stations with the cheapest sources of new generation.
Communications expert Ed Coper, CEO of marketing agency Populares, says the energy transition has become a target of online misinformation campaigns - the "new front" of the climate wars.
On social media platforms, the biggest beneficiaries are those able to weaponise algorithms that reward outrage.
The risk was fringe views gaining undue dominance, Mr Coper said during the panel discussion.
"That is the real danger, that the support and the social license that the energy transition is experiencing in Australia is softer than we realise."
Kate Hook, co-convenor of Climate 200 and former independent candidate for Calare, described the 2025 federal election as Australia's biggest-ever co-ordinated disinformation campaign.
Fossil fuel-aligned organisations deployed millions to sway the outcome of the election away from climate action, she said, often under the guise of third-party organisations.
