Scott Morrison‘s belter of a summer continues to roll on, with the human smiley loaf swanning down to Kangaroo Island yesterday where he told residents he was thankful that no one died in the fires that have thus far consumed around a third of the island. This, despite the fact that two people did die. Which he was corrected about immediately by the Kangaroo Island residents he was talking to. Which he then tried to cover for by asserting he was “thinking about firefighters.”
It’s a great day for Australia, people.
[jwplayer QIcVfdAV]
The Prime Minister visited the South Australian island yesterday, amid on-going fire threats that have decimated vast tracts of the island, including the bulk of Flinders Chase National Park.
Media footage from the appearance captured a candid conversation the Prime Minister was engaging in with local residents, during which he asserted quite confidently “Well thankfully we’ve had no loss of life.”
Almost immediately a local chimed in: “Two. We’ve lost two.”
Instead of apologise for the staggering gaffe, like a normal human might do, Morrison instead double down immediately and tried to palm it off by saying “Two. Yes two, that’s quite right. I was thinking about firefighters firstly.”
https://twitter.com/OliverJPocock/status/1214827739619852289
It says a lot about a bloke when his first knee-jerk instinct is to leap into spin and deflect fault rather than admit his shortcomings and quickly say sorry.
Beyond that, Morrison also reverted to his default Tourism Australia mode by oddly spruiking the Island as a viable holiday destination that’s ready to go right now, claiming that while “a third of the island has obviously been decimated, two thirds of it is open and ready for business.”
@ScottMorrisonMP encourages people domestically and internationally to holiday in Australia. #AustralianFires #auspol pic.twitter.com/ukLRIvLl4N
— David Marler (@Qldaah) January 8, 2020
Just for the record, a Total Fire Ban is in effect on Kangaroo Island today, and residents in the town of Vivonne Bay were evacuated last night amid rising fears that the fires – still burning on the island – could jump containment lines today. Temperatures on the island are set to nudge 40 degrees today, and the entire island is under severe fire warning conditions.
But yeah. Open for business, etc.
