Malcolm Turnbull plans to spend the bulk of the election campaign overseas in a bid to minimise attention on the Coalition's history of ideological infighting and leadership turmoil, one of the Morrison government's major weaknesses as it seeks another term in office.
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A spokesman for Mr Turnbull confirmed that the former prime minister plans to spend several weeks in the US over the election period.
Mr Turnbull will travel to New York, where he and wife Lucy own an apartment, in the lead-up to Anzac Day, where he will appear at several commemorative functions.
It is understood Mr Turnbull does not expect to return to Australia before polling day on May 18.
Mr Turnbull has told associates that he does not want to distract from the Coalition's message and he wants his successor, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, to be able to run his own race.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Thursday made clear he would put the Coalition's leadership upheavals at the centre of Labor's campaign.
"Even our harshest critics can see we have been united for the past six years," he said. "And that's what Australians want - one prime minister for three years, not a revolving door."
It is unclear whether Mr Turnbull will campaign for Liberal candidate Dave Sharma in his former seat of Wentworth before he leaves for the US.
Mr Turnbull was criticised by many Liberals for not campaigning with Mr Sharma in the lead-up to the Wentworth byelection triggered by his sudden departure from Parliament last year.
Mr Turnbull has remained the focus of intense media attention since he was removed from the prime ministership by his Liberal colleagues last August.
He generated headlines this week when he demanded that Mr Morrison respond to "very troubling" allegations about Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's links to Communist Party-aligned billionaire Huang Xiangmo and Liberal lobbyists.
Mr Turnbull was reacting to an investigation by Four Corners, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age into Chinese influence in Australia.
"Scott Morrison is the Prime Minister and you can't wave this off and say it's all part of gossip and the bubble," he told reporters at an event in Sydney on Tuesday.
"This is the national security of Australia."
He added: "Peter Dutton has got a lot to explain about this."
Following the comments, talkback radio host Alan Jones called Mr Turnbull a "grub" who should be expelled from the Liberal Party.
Mr Turnbull is writing an extensive memoir of his life inside and outside politics that is expected to be published around October.
As recently as last month, Mr Turnbull described his removal from the prime ministership as a form of "madness" and said the government's polling was in a "worse position" than when he was PM.
Mr Turnbull and wife Lucy retreated to their apartment on New York's affluent Upper West Side for over a month following the August leadership spill.
Even on the other side of the Pacific Ocean they found themselves followed by the media.
"Are you going to stalk us now?" Mr Turnbull told journalists in New York who approached him on the street. "Why don't you leave us alone?"
It is common for former prime ministers to campaign in marginal seats during a campaign and to appear at their party's official election launch to project a message of party unity.
John Howard is expected to be deployed by the Liberal Party in key seats and Bob Hawke is usually in high demand among Labor candidates.
Julia Gillard kept a low profile after being removed from the prime ministership in 2013 and did not appear at Labor's campaign launch that year.
