“Put Australia first”: Karl Stefanovic’s impassioned plea to Scott Morrison
On his long-awaited return to the Today show, Karl Stefanovic started his first day off with a bang as he launched an impassioned monologue about Scott Morrison amid Saturday’s catastrophic weather forecast.
Referencing the ongoing criticism over the Prime Minister’s lack of action regarding the bushfire crisis – and the cold reception from the victims of the blaze last week – Stefanovic looked directly into the camera and said while Morrison has shown a blinding lack of leadership, the bushfire crisis was “not his fault”.
“No matter which way you look at it, Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is under the pump this morning on several fronts,” he began.
Scott Morrison has been slammed as "tone deaf" for rolling out a political ad boasting the government's controversial response to the bushfire crisis. Do you agree? #9Today pic.twitter.com/vanx1cuuKZ
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“He is the leader of this great country. He was elected by the Australian people to lead. But during this crisis over the past month he has shown a lack of ability to lead. To connect with the Australian people who are hurting and who are grieving.” He said, as he seemed to be talking about the PM’s disastrous visit to fire-ravaged Cobargo on Thursday.
He continued: “This whole crisis is not his fault. There are clearly State issues and Federal crossovers that will need to be addressed. But from the public’s point of view the PM has been meandering, lost. Now he is a punching bag for those in pain who want answers. Or just want something from him that’s real. He needs to step up and take control. He has resources in the form of the ADF that have and can be deployed.”
He finished off: “I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to be Prime Minister. But I would imagine it starts with putting Australia and Australians first.”
The first day of the new Today line-up was originally intended to commence on Monday but was brought forward for Saturday’s “special edition” bushfire segment.