A day after Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to say “sorry” over the government’s bungled vaccine rollout, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has gone and done the exact same thing on The Today Show.
On Thursday morning, host Karl Stefanovic grilled the Treasurer about just how badly the government has fucked up the vaccine rollout to the extent that half of Australia is now in lockdown like it’s 2020 all over again.
“The Prime Minister said yesterday he has regret for initially saying the vaccine rollout was not a race. Josh, why not just say sorry?” Stefanovic asked.
Instead of saying sorry, Frydenberg gave a massive lecture about how we should be grateful for this mess we’re in right now.
“Well [Morrison] has accepted responsibility and most importantly he is putting in place the solutions that is required to rollout that vaccine as soon as possible,” Frydenberg said.
“Let’s not forget that we have helped save 30,000 lives in Australia with our response to this pandemic. If we had seen the loss of life that was on average across the OECD, more than 30,000 Australians would’ve lost their lives and right now it’s under 1,000.
The Federal and Queensland Government’s will be splitting the bill when it comes time for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. #9Today pic.twitter.com/g0yfxDGYsY
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 21, 2021
“At the same time our economic recovery has been a lot stronger and faster than any other country in the world, with a million jobs being created.
“But no-one is glossing over the fact that right now more than 13 million Australians are doing it tough, really tough. Businesses are closed, kids are being home-schooled, families are apart, and my empathy goes out to those people.
“But the good news from yesterday is, as well, that we hit the one-million mark with the vaccine doses over the course of a week.
“The first million, Karl, took 45 days. The last million has taken seven days, and that number will only shrink in the weeks ahead.”
It’s interesting that Frydenberg decided to drag out the OECD rankings and praise our vaccination rates in the same breath, because according to those very same rankings, Australia places dead last in terms what proportion of the population has been vaccinated.
“Look, people are angry, people are frustrated. The PM won’t say sorry, are you prepared to say sorry for the rollout?” Stefanovic insisted.
Frydenberg gave yet another lecture about “accepting responsibility” and “hard conversations” without directly apologising for this complete and utter clusterfuck of a vaccine rollout.
“Sorry seems to be the hardest word though, right?” Stefanovic hit back.
“Well look, this is really, really difficult, this vaccine rollout–”
“Just say it!” Stefanovic said.
“We’re accepting responsibility. And of course, we wanted the vaccine rollout to be faster than it has been,” Frydenberg insisted
“I’m sorry for every day that [co-host Ally Langdon] has to work with me. I’m sorry. ‘I’m sorry’ – just say it, it’s not hard,” Stefanovic said.
Instead of taking the chance to actually apologise, Frydenberg replied with a joke: “I’m sorry for her too.”
It would actually be kind of funny, if it weren’t for the disastrous situation we’re now in (amid a global pandemic, no less) that’s entirely the fault of his government.
