Scott Morrison has listed his top mistakes during the Covid-19 pandemic but refused to say sorry for them.
After his speech at the National Press Club, Mr Morrison was asked by veteran ABC journalist Laura Tingle if he wanted to apologise for mistakes made throughout his time in office.
‘Do you want to take this opportunity to actually say sorry for the mistakes you’ve made as prime minister?
‘Not just about Covid – everything from going to Hawaii during the bushfires through to not having enough rapid antigen tests,’ she said.
Scott Morrison has listed his top mistakes during the Covid-19 pandemic but refused to say sorry for them
Mr Morrison began his reply by saying: ‘We’re all terribly sorry for what this pandemic has done to the world and to this country. These are the times in which we live.’
But he then went on to list three key errors including falsely raising people’s hopes before this summer, not placing the vaccine rollout under military command from the start and poorly managing outbreaks in aged care.
‘We could have communicated more clearly about the risks and challenges that we still face,’ Mr Morrison said in reference to how he called for an end to restrictions before the Omicron wave in December.
‘In our communications, we have to be be clear about that. We can’t lift people’s hopes, then disappointment them. I think that’s what happened over the break.’
‘Secondly, on the vaccination program, if I had my time over, I would have put it under a military operation from the outset and not later in the year,’ Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said the goal to offer a jab to everyone by October was achieved but admitted the rollout got off to a slow start, prompting him to install Lieutenant General John Frewen as boss of the programme.
‘I took the decision to send in General Frewen and change the way we did it, and set up a change in the command structure, how logistics were managed, how it was planned. And it worked. But I wish we’d done that earlier. And that’s a lesson,’ Mr Morrison said.
Earlier anti-vax protesters inspired by large rallies in Canada have gathered outside the National Press Club ahead of Mr Morrison’s speech.
About 50 protesters outside the building waved flags – including banners supporting Donald Trump – and chanted ‘remove Scomo’, ‘no more boosters’ and ‘we will not comply’.
It comes a day after Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Government is considering offering Australians a fourth Covid vaccine dose.
The protesters descended on the capital on Monday in a convoy of trucks and cars from Pheasants Nest near Wollongong in NSW, taking inspiration from a ‘Freedom Convoy’ in the Canadian capital Ottawa over the weekend.
Protesters are seen during an anti-vaccination rally outside the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra
About 50 protesters outside the building waved flags – including banners supporting Donald Trump
There was a large police presence outside the building where the protesters had gathered
The demonstrators have set up camp in a park near the National Library where about 200 cars and trucks were counted on Tuesday morning.
Mr Morrison’s speech about health and economic resilience comes after a disastrous Newspoll put Labor on track to comfortably win the next election.
The Opposition is ahead 56-44 on a two-party-preferred basis in the Coalition’s worst polling performance since September 2018, a month after Malcolm Turnbull was replaced by Mr Morrison.
The 12-point lead puts Labor on track to win up to 25 seats from the Coalition and represents a 6-point lead increase from the last poll on December 6 when it was ahead 53-47.
On Monday Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the polls could change by election time.
‘Many obituaries were written by those in the media and our political opponents who got ahead of themselves,’ he said in reference to Mr Morrison’s surprise win at the 2019 election.
The latest poll for The Australian newspaper comes as eastern Australia is ravaged by a large outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 which is causing staff shortages for thousands of businesses.
The federal government has also faced heavy criticism over the widespread shortage of rapid antigen tests and was blasted by the NSW Government on Sunday for refusing to split the cost of a new business support package.
In the speech Mr Morrison announced aged care workers will get two bonus payments of up to $400 in February and May to stop them leaving the sector which is ravaged by Covid outbreaks and staff shortages.
Labor and unions have blasted the bonus payments describing the move as a ‘cheap and nasty’ election stunt.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the PM was trying to ‘buy’ the support of aged care workers.
About 50 protesters outside the building waved flags and chanted ‘no more boosters’ and ‘we will not comply’
