Scott Morrison has spoken out after he was slammed for tweeting a short clip spruiking his latest measures to help deal with the bushfire crisis.
The 50-second video, authorised by the Liberal Party, describes the Morrison government's new measures to combat the fires, while upbeat music plays in the background.
It was posted a few hours after the Prime Minister announced a deployment of 3000 ADF reservists, and a $20 million investment to lease four additional firefighting aircraft.
We’re putting more Defence Force boots on the ground, more planes in the sky, more ships to sea, and more trucks to roll in to support the bushfire fighting effort and recovery as part of our co-ordinated response to these terrible #bushfires pic.twitter.com/UiOeYB2jnv
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 4, 2020
The video has copped heat online, with Twitter users accusing the Morrison government of using the bushfires as a marketing stunt.
Wow. A self-promotional commercial with cheesy elevator music? This is one of the most tone-deaf things I’ve ever seen a country’s leader put out during a crisis. Shameless & shameful. https://t.co/ISgYEtlsb7
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 4, 2020
For God’s sake! On a day we have catastrophic fire conditions, in the midst of a genuine national crisis, Morrison, the marketing guy, does what? He releases a Liberal Party ad! He is no longer fit to hold the high office of prime minister. https://t.co/1OZqEZalOa
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) January 4, 2020
Speaks to the marketing background. The fires have been a crisis for months, but it took a media crisis for Morrison to act. https://t.co/52VlqttfG9
— Richard Cooke (@rgcooke) January 4, 2020
1) Party-political advertising milking ADF support to civil agencies fighting bushfires is a clear breach of the (reciprocal) non-partisanship convention applying to both the ADF & Ministers/MPs. 2) Also cliche-ridden. 3) Its "defence force", not "Defence Force". #auspol #ausdef https://t.co/RlepHHbIx9
— Australia Defence Association (@austdef) January 4, 2020
A few hours after tweeting the video, Morrison came out defending it, saying it's a "legal requirement in Australia to include an authorisation on all video messages used on social media by Australian MPs".
It is a legal requirement in Australia to include an authorisation on all video messages used on social media by Australian MPs. The video message simply communicates the Government’s policy decisions and the actions the Government is undertaking to the public.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 4, 2020
The same practice is rightly employed by the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party. This is required and standard practice in Australia.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 4, 2020
Morrison was also blasted after social media users noted a prominent 'Donate' button on the Liberal Party website page that focused on the bushfires.
The button linked to a page to raise funds for the Liberal Party itself, which some said was misleading.
People should be aware that the prominent DONATE button in the link the PM has posted with his bushfire ad on FB is raising funds for the LIBERAL PARTY and NOT bushfire relief. pic.twitter.com/9aav1trL5N
— Matt Burke (@matttburke) January 4, 2020
The Liberal Party removed the donation link a few minutes after tweeting above. Here’s where the donation link was sending you.
— Matt Burke (@matttburke) January 4, 2020
It appeared to ask people to support their bushfire plan with a donation to the Liberal Party. pic.twitter.com/02pLiPxTVF
The Donate button has since been removed.
The latest controversy over Morrison's response to the bushfire crisis came as it was announced the PM's planned trip to India had been cancelled.
The Prime Minister will now stay in Australia in early January to deal with the continuing fire situation.
Morrison and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on Friday via phone after which it was announced the planned trade and defence talks between the two countries would be postponed to "a mutually convenient time later in the year"
The announcement came as Morrison faced a fresh grilling on his response to the bushfire crisis in the wake of his visit to fire ravaged town of Cobargo in NSW on Thursday, where he faced furious locals.
Footage taken on the ground showed him taking the hand of 20-year-old mum Zoey Salucci-McDermott, even as she told him she didn't want to shake his hand unless he boosted funding for the Rural Fire Service.
Salucci-McDermott, a young mum from Cobargo, was one of the many locals to lose everything as the out-of-control Badja Forest Road bushfire destroyed much of the town on December 31.
She has a 22-month-old girl and is pregnant with her second child.
Staring straight at the PM, McDermott was introduced to him but refused to put out her hand to shake it.
"I'm only shaking your hand if you give more money to our RFS," McDermott said, as Morrison grabbed her hand himself and shook it.
Through tears, McDermott continued: "So many people here have lost their homes. We need more help."
As McDermott finished her sentence, the PM placed his hand on her shoulder and turned away from her.
Taking to Facebook last night, McDermott revealed she was one of the many people to lose everything in the blaze.
Speaking to 10 News on Friday, McDermott said seeing the PM turn away "broke my heart".
"I would've happily sat down and had a cup of tea with him if he had of asked 'are you OK, what can we do to fix this situation'," she said.
"It's a war-zone and he walked away when I asked for help … we're desperate."
Criticism also came from members of Morrison's own party. On Sunrise, NSW Transport Minister and Bega MP Andrew Constance took a swipe at Morrison, declaring he "probably gave him the welcome he deserved".
Constance barely saved his own home in Malua Bay from an out-of-control bushfire.
"I didn't even know he was coming and I haven't had a call from him," Constance told Seven's Sunrise yesterday when asked if people elsewhere in his electorate felt the same as Cobargo.
"So to be honest the locals probably gave him the welcome he probably deserved."
Morrison defended his trip to Cobargo saying the fact he was the 'first senior leader' to enter the town made him a target for people's anger and fear.
"I understand the first person who is going to walk into that town was going to feel the anger and the fury and the frustration and the loss and the fear that was effort in that community," he said during a press conference on Saturday.
"In that community, as others who I met with on that day have said, there was a mixed response. Some were incredibly pleased. Some I embraced, some others didn't wish to, some wanted to shake hands"
"These arms have given a lot of hugs in the last three months, in fact almost the last year and a half in which I have been Prime Minister. Whether it has been comforting the victims of the drought in north Queensland or elderly residents in Taree. On some occasions people are looking for that. On other occasions they want to keep their distance."
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