Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been forced to apologise after claiming that former PM Kevin Rudd has been hogging all of the international quarantine spots, a claim that is blatantly false.
To bring you up to speed, basically, the Labor party asked Morrison on Monday why the likes of Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer have been free to jet set around the globe mid-pandemic while “there are thousands of vulnerable stranded Australians who haven’t been able to get home once.”
But rather than answering the question, Morrison deflected by asking why Labor “would want to bring personalities into this, given Mr Rudd has done the same thing.”
Considering Rudd’s international travel would also be at the discretion of the Federal Government, I’m not quite sure how this is meant to make the situation any better for those Aussies stranded overseas.
It didn’t take long for Rudd to respond following Morrison’s comments, basically calling bullshit on the claim and demanding that Morrison apologise immediately.
“This is an utter falsehood by Mr Morrison. I have not left Australia since returning home from New York in March. I haven’t even left Queensland. The Morrison Government’s own records prove this,” Rudd said in a statement.
Morrison claimed in the parliament today that I have obtained exemptions to travel in and out of Australia, taking quarantine places from other Australians. That is an utter falsehood. I haven’t left Queensland since March. Morrison has misled the parliament & he should apologise pic.twitter.com/O7x6l3Q3qq
— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) December 7, 2020
“I am extremely conscious of how rare quarantine places are. Mr Morrison’s suggestion that I have claimed a rare quarantine place for myself, knowing that it would deprive a fellow Australian of the opportunity to be home for Christmas, is insulting.”
Following Rudd’s statement, Scott Morrison has written to the clerk of the House of Representatives to retract the claim, correct the record and apologise to Rudd according to The Guardian.
Travel exemptions during the pandemic are independently decided by the border force commissioner, however, Tony Abbott has left the country twice this year with an “auto exemption: given to those travelling for government business purposes.
