Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has given the new Baz Luhrmann epic movie Australia a five star rating, describing it as a "great film".

Mr Turnbull, who was in Geraldton on Wednesday for the commemoration ceremony for the HMAS Sydney, had attended the Kununurra premiere of the movie the night before.

Kununurra was one of the key locations used for the film set in the Kimberleys and in Darwin.

"To sit there in the picture ground at Kununurra in the open air and to be with so many of the cast, particularly so many of the indigenous cast ... you could feel the excitement and the pride in the audience when the Aboriginal languages were used," Mr Turnbull told ABC local Radio in Perth.

"Every time a familiar piece of scenery came onto the screen there were cries of pleasure and excitement, oohs and ahs. It was great."

Mr Turnbull said he had been visiting Kununurra talking to irrigators and community leaders about the Ord River irrigation scheme.

He was quick to point out the plan to attend the premiere had been "incidental" to a long-planned trip.