Barilaro’s boss, Gladys Berejiklian, hung him out to dry this morning.

“Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has my full and absolute support,” the NSW premier said in a statement.

“Mr Barilaro has expressed a personal view which I do not share. Mr Barilaro is well aware of my position.”

Berejiklian said she looked forward to working with the Turnbull government to deliver better quality lives for the people of NSW.

Barilaro – the state’s Nationals leader – says he has lost all hope in Turnbull, describing him as “out of touch” and declaring he is the reason the federal government is in disarray.

“Turnbull is the problem. The prime minister is the problem. He should step down and allow for a clean-out of what the leadership looks like federally,” Barilaro told Alan Jones on Sydney’s 2GB radio today.

“Whoever takes the reins going forward needs to make sure that they put the country and its people first.”

Turnbull’s claim the Queensland election was not affected by federal issues was “a joke”, said Barilaro.

“You’ve got a party in disarray, a Coalition Government in disarray and a community not unified, and that is all at the feet of the prime minister of Australia,” he said.

“My view is Turnbull should give Australians a Christmas gift and go before Christmas.”

Turnbull brushed off the comments and denied his time was running out.

He suggested the deputy premier made those comments to “ingratiate” himself with Jones and to tell him what he wants to hear.

“If that was a serious view he held, you would think he would speak to me directly, wouldn’t you?” he told Neil Mitchell on Melbourne’s 3AW radio.

“If I had a view about a state leader of that kind, I would express it – if I expressed it at all – privately and face-to-face, I wouldn’t be bagging them in the media like that.”

Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann labelled the comments “very unhelpful”, while frontbench colleague Mitch Fifield went a step further.

“The easiest thing in politics is to get a run by whacking your own side – it requires absolutely no political skills, it’s lazy, it’s weak and it lacks character,” Fifield said.

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen lampooned it as the Nationals’ Christmas message to the prime minister.

“Merry Christmas from the National Party, PM. Thanks for the royal commission, now please quit.”

Queensland Coalition MP Llew O’Brien said Barilaro was entitled to his opinion.

“Mine is that John should focus on his role as vice-captain of reserve grade and let the big boys and girls take care of federal matters.”

– AAP