Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been removed from his position as chair of the New South Wales Net-Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board, only a week after his appointment. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that while she admired and respected Turnbull, his appointment “unfortunately for everyone concerned … was proving to be a distraction”. The removal came hours after The Daily Telegraph published a letter from Turnbull objecting to the expansion of a coal mine in the upper Hunter Valley region near his personal property. Turnbull said he and his wife made the submission as “long term landowners in the district and in no other capacity” and rejected any conflict of interest. The former prime minister claims the New South Wales government was bullied into the decision and blames his axing on right-wing media. “There has been a pretty ferocious campaign, a vendetta really, in the characteristic way that News …