Malcolm Turnbull says he takes Scott Morrison at his word that he wasn't involved in the coup to bring him down as prime minister.
There is speculation Mr Morrison used his supporters to force the spill that brought Mr Turnbull down but Mr Turnbull said he had no information to support it.
"I take Scott at his word. The insurgency was led by Peter Dutton, was obviously strongly supported by Tony Abbott and others," Mr Turnbull told the ABC's Q&A on Thursday night.
"Scott did not support it and he's said that publicly.
Mr Turnbull said Mr Morrison took advantage of a situation others created.
"That is how he's presented the circumstances himself and I'm not in a position to contradict that or question that," he said.
Mr Turnbull also said a "messy week" just before the Wentworth by-election killed off the coalition's majority, not his lack of campaigning on the ground.
He has been criticised by some in the coalition for not campaigning with Liberal candidate Dave Sharma, who lost to independent Kerryn Phelps.
"My judgment is that Dave Sharma would have won the election had it been held the Saturday before," Mr Turnbull said.
"I believe the by election was lost in the last week."
The coalition had a number of scandals in that final week, including senators accidentally voting for a white supremacist One Nation motion and a plan to move an embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Mr Turnbull says he believed campaigning in Wentworth would have "unhelpful" to Mr Sharma's prospects.
"It also frankly, would not have been very helpful for me maintaining my own peace of mind, after an event like this, it's very important to look after yourself and your family," he said.
The coalition no longer has a majority in the lower house after Mr Sharma's loss.
Mr Turnbull said there was a lesson for the Liberal party that the formerly safe seats of Mayo, Indi and Wentworth have all now been won by liberal-leaning independent women.
He confirmed reports he spoke to billionaire Kerry Stokes, who relayed a conversation he had with media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
"According to Kerry, Rupert said, "Oh, well, three years of Labor wouldn't be so bad." I can't work that out. I can't explain that," he said.
Mr Turnbull said it was "actually quite painful to talk about" the coup, especially because he still didn't know why it happened.
Australian Associated Press
