Updated
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has responded to
criticism of his leadership during the bushfire crisis, saying while he
understands people are angry, he doesn't "take these things personally".
Key points:
- Mr Morrison was heckled during his visit to an evacuation centre in Cobargo
- He says the criticism will not distract him from delivering support and resources to fire-affected communities
- The Prime Minister is due to travel to India later this month but says he may cancel the trip
Australia's leader has become global news, with international media outlets broadcasting vision of his confrontational meeting with angry residents in the bushfire-ravaged New South Wales town of Cobargo yesterday.
What was supposed to be an opportunity for the public to see Mr Morrison meeting emergency leaders and comforting bushfire victims quickly took a turn when people heckled the Prime Minister and refused to shake his hand during the brief visit.
Footage of Mr Morrison grabbing Zoey Salucci McDermott's hand after she refused his handshake is being shared widely on social media.
"I'm only shaking your hand if you give more funding to our RFS," she says in the vision.
Ms Salucci McDermott said she was "heartbroken" following the exchange.
"I have lost everything I own," she said on Facebook.
"My house is burnt to the ground and the Prime Minister turned his back on me."But at a press conference in the Victorian town of Bairnsdale on Friday, Mr Morrison said he had not taken the criticism personally.
"People are angry, I understand it," he said.
"People have suffered great loss. People are hurting. People are raw. That's what happens in natural disasters."And we will continue to stay focused on exerting all of our effort to deliver all of the resources and all of the support to ensure that all of these communities can come through."
'My job is to stay focused'
During the press conference, the Prime Minister was repeatedly asked whether he believed people were angry at the losses they had suffered, or his leadership."People are angry, and if people want to direct that at me, that is up to them," he said.
"It's not something that will distract me. It is something that I will empathise with.
"It is something that I understand. It's not something for me to take personally.
"My job is to stay focused on ensuring that we have the maximum coordination of effort across many states."
Mr Morrison was also questioned about comments made by former NSW fire chief Greg Mullins, who compared the Prime Minister's leadership during the bushfire crisis and his stance on climate change to the way the US President Donald Trump has handled the epidemic of mass shootings across America.
"I'm pretty angry about the Prime Minister's response. It reminds me of President Trump when there's multiple shootings, saying, 'It's nothing to do with guns' — he won't talk about guns," Mr Mullins said on ABC radio this morning.
But Mr Morrison dismissed the comments.
"I just remain focused on the job I have to do," he said.
"This is not about any one individual — not me or anyone else. We all have to a job to do."
Morrison's India trip to be postponed: Modi
Just a few hours after saying it was "still the plan" to go to India later this month to discuss the global economy, Mr Morrison said he was now "inclined not to proceed" with the trip.It now appears the trip has been postponed, according to a press release issued on Friday by India's Ministry of External Affairs.
It said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "looked forward" to welcoming Mr Morrison at "a mutually convenient time later in the year", without elaborating on when exactly that would be.
Restarting negotiations about a bilateral free-trade deal and strengthening defence ties were both on the agenda for the trip.
He said the National Security Committee of Cabinet would hold an additional meeting via hook-up on Saturday morning to discuss the bushfire response, and address the visit.
"There are issues I need to resolve formally through what you'd expect when you'd make a decision of that nature, to work through issues with the other ministers, but that is my inclination at this point," he said.
"I'll make a further announcement on that and will make the arrangements accordingly."
The Prime Minister was due to travel to India on January 13, before heading on to Japan.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese criticised the timing of the National Security Committee meeting, which was initially slated for Monday.
"I'm not quite sure why it takes that long — as a former member of the National Security Committee — to convene a meeting like that," he said while speaking in Sydney.
"It can be convened of course by its very nature on very short notice."He also reiterated calls for an urgent meeting of state and territory leaders to discuss the bushfire crisis.
"I do think that the failure of [Council of Australian Governments] to meet until March is not a circumstance which, in my view, is justifiable," he said.
"What we need to ensure is that there is national coordination here."
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