Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that the intense backlash he faced on his visit to Cobargo yesterday is “not something for [him] to take personally.”
In case you missed it, Scott Morrison forced a bushfire victim to shake his hand before totally ignoring her pleas for help, then proceeded to be heckled by residents of the fire-ravaged town of Cobargo before promptly getting the fuck out of there during his visit yesterday.
But despite being absolutely torn a new one by the people he’s meant to represent and protect, Scott Morrison said that he isn’t taking it personally.
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Well, Scott. I really, truly think you should be. And here’s exactly why:
Bushfires have been wreaking havoc on the country since July 2019. In that time, at least five million hectares of land have been burned in NSW alone, with flames as high as 70 metres tall.
Huge clouds of smoke have filled the air, depleting the air quality and creating their own weather.
We’ve seen thousands of people stranded on beaches as fires destroyed their homes.
Residents have been forced out to sea to escape the flames, prompting navy vessels to
According to The Guardian, at least 1,500 homes have been lost throughout this bushfire season.
Not to mention, the entire main street of Cobargo was obliterated as flames tore through the small community.
But the unimaginable amount of land and property loss doesn’t even begin to compare to the seventeen confirmed fatalities in New South Wales alone this bushfire season, according to the ABC.
People are dying, entire towns are being destroyed, residents are stranded, and Scott Morrison frankly couldn’t give less of a shit.
During his press conference on Friday, Scott Morrison was repeatedly asked if he thought the Australian people were angry at his leadership.
“People are angry, and if people want to direct that at me, that is up to them. It’s not something that will distract me. It is something that I will empathise with,” he said. “It is something that I understand. It’s not something for me to take personally.”
The only thing more appalling than the PM’s smug attitude during his visit to Cobargo on Thursday is the fact that he doesn’t even care that the Australian people are disappointed in him.
Not “taking it personally” is proof that Scott Morrison does not care about the Australian people, especially during their time of need. He lacks the empathy, respect and human decency we expect from a leader.
As Gretel Killeen so eloquently put it in her recent Sunrise appearance on ScoMo’s Hawaii visit:
“It’s about leadership, and leadership is not necessarily being in the battlefield – it’s showing that your sentiments, your empathy, your vision and your intellect are applied to the problem. [What] this showed is that he was not only physically removed, emotionally removed but intellectually removed.”
Even when he’s physically at the scene, surrounded by the bushfire victims, he remains emotionally shut off from the issue.
As the leader of this country, this should matter to Scott Morrison. The anger, disappointment and sheer frustration of the Australian people is something that should be keeping him up at night.
But it isn’t. He doesn’t take any of this personally, and that’s the real issue.
We’ve covered this same narrative countless times here at PEDESTRIAN.TV since the bushfire crisis began. None of this mattered to Scott Morrison when Sydney couldn’t breathe, he didn’t give a shit when he fucked off to Hawaii, and he absolutely doesn’t care now that the entire community of Cobargo is left standing in the rubble of their former town.
Scott Morrison has let us down once again, and it’s honestly not even surprising anymore.
If you’re lucky enough to not be facing the immediate threat of the bushfires, I urge you to do what you can to help. Donate your time, your money, your resources or even your blood to the people who need it most.
