Wyatt Roy with members of the Peshmerga in Sinjar area, west of Mosul, Iraq. Picture: Supplied

Speaking to The Project last night from Dubai, Roy said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was ‘just doing his job’ when labelling his actions as ‘stupid’.

“Look the Prime Minister has a job to do and Malcom’s going to say what he has to say and I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Malcom and explain the full context.”

He said it was just one part of a much broader trip that generated a dangerous situation.

“Lets get some context,” he said, “there’s been some sensationalised reporting.

“There is over 1000km of front line and we were incredibly unlucky, we found the one outpost in the two minutes that there was basically the largest attack since the middle of August,” he said.

The trip, he says, was to observe for himself the circumstances of the Yazidi ethnic group, as well as that of the Kurdish people, both of which had suffered at the hands of Islamic State,

Roy rejected the suggestion that he would have had to be rescued by Australian forces if captured. He said he was the guest of the Kurdish regional government and was in the hands of the Peshmerga fighting force.

But he later added a conciliatory note to the tone of an interview with the ABC:

“I understand that the prime minister and the foreign minister have a job to do, and the foreign minister of course must take the advice of her department, and I don’t want to make their lives any more difficult,” he said.

Wyatt Roy with a member of the Peshmerga in Sinjar area, west of Mosul, Iraq. Picture: SBSSource:Supplied

BACKLASH

Earlier, Malcolm Turnbull had promised to give former Liberal MP Wyatt Roy some “very sage and stern advice” when he returns to Australia from the Iraq-Syria border.

“Australians should not go to those parts of the world,” he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW radio on Friday.

“He was acting in defiance of government advice. It was very stupid.”

Mr Turnbull has not ruled out an investigation into the former MP’s visit.

He will face questions from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade upon his arrival back into the country.

The dangerous trip has angered several Australian MPs, who say he’s visiting a war zone as if it were a “Contiki tour”.

Labor’s defence spokesman Richard Marles told the Nine Network it was a “profoundly stupid, profoundly selfish” decision.

“We’re talking about a war zone. This is not a Contiki tour here,” he said.

The former Liberal MP was caught in the crossfire between the Islamic State group and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq near an area Australians are legally banned from visiting.

The 26-year-old, who lost his Queensland seat in July’s election, says he travelled to Iraq because he wanted to see the conflict for himself.

Defending the controversial trip, Roy said he went to meet with locals, think tanks, policy makers and academics but did not anticipate the gunfight.

“There’s an unfortunate and unlucky situation that developed but the reality is of course there are Australians in this part of the world who are contributing,” he said.

“The travel advice that we get is very different to that of the United States and the United Kingdom.”

Wyatt Roy has defended his diplomatic trip to Iraq after coming under fire from MPs. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop lashed out at Roy, saying he put himself at risk of physical harm and capture.

“It is irresponsible of Wyatt Roy to travel to the front line of the conflict between ISIL and Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq, in a region regarded as very high risk,” a statement issued by her office reads.

“He has placed himself at risk of physical harm and capture, and acted in defiance of government advice. Mr Roy did not seek nor did he receive assistance from the Australian Government for his travel to Iraq.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop accused Wyatt Roy of being “irresponsible” and acting “in defiance of government advice”. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Labor Senator Penny Wong said the fight against IS should be left to Australia’s military, not “cowboys” who “put themselves in harm’s way and might lead to other Australians being forced to risk their lives to rescue them”.

“Warzones are not the places for people to act out their boyhood fantasies,” Ms Wong said in a statement.

“This is a very unwise, and dangerous act for a former LNP Member of Parliament, who should be expected to know better.”

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told the Nine Network that Roy was a “good friend” and said he was glad to hear he’s safe.

“COWBOY” ROY CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE

The former politician’s trip received mixed reaction over social media, with some Facebook users saying he’s “PM material” and others calling him “f---ing w--ker”.

Daryl Whiting posted: “Onya mate true aussie guts we miss you in caboolture dont give up your PM material”.

But Taya Nielsen disagreed, writing: “Wyatt, it’s all very well 2 spout about how very grateful you are, but U CHOSE 2 put yourself & your colleagues in harm’s way - AGAINST the specific advice of your own gov’t. These are the actions of an irresponsible bloody idiot!”

Other users tweeted that he was simply “surprised that he can grow a beard”.

Roy says he was part of a delegation that was caught in the crossfire from 15 IS insurgents near the Iraq-Syria border last Thursday.

He was visiting Peshmerga forces with a British political consultant and a translator when 15 IS insurgents attacked.

Wyatt Roy with members of the Peshmerga in Sinjar area, west of Mosul, Iraq. Picture: SuppliedSource:News Corp Australia

Five IS fighters were reportedly killed in the battle before Coalition air strikes helped push back the insurgents.

“(I) wanted to visit and see for myself, in a way that I really couldn’t have done as a member of parliament,” Roy told SBS.

“Very quickly after we were attacked — it was obviously quite a serious situation — the Peshmerga called in an air strike and probably within a half an hour, forty minutes, the jets were overhead,” he said.

“Once (the Peshmerga) had pushed them back, they were very adamant that we get in the car and drive as fast as we could in the other direction.”