“You must have been filthy”: Karl Stefanovic grills PM
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to criticise Premier Daniel Andrews over the Victorian government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreaks.
Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on the Today show on Friday, Morrison said he would not comment on the state government’s management of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
“It is my job to support them, Karl,” Morrison said. “It’s time to help, not for me to run a commentary.”
Stefanovic replied: “You are a straight shooter. You must have been filthy.”
“It’s not about how I feel. It’s about what I do,” Morrison said.
Stefanovic insisted: “It does matter how you feel.”
“No, not for me. It doesn’t, mate. I’m sorry. Prime ministers don’t get that indulgence. We have a job to do and get on with it,” the PM said.
The statement came as an additional 1,000 Australian Defence Force personnel were deployed to assist Victoria with contact tracing, virus testing, police control points and quarantine compliance.
Morrison told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell the Commonwealth would not play a bigger role to take over from the Victorian government.
“It’s a Victorian problem and it requires a Victorian government to deal with it and we will give them every help and support we can for the decisions that they need to make and ultimately they will be accountable for that,” Morrison said.
“The ADF are very good at managing very significant logistical tasks and that is something that is becoming an even greater burden in Victoria as the scale of this is ramped up.”