Politics

Scott Morrison Had An Absolutely Awful Weekend At G20 And You Truly Love To See It

Scotty and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

by Lavender Baj  1 November 2021
g20

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison is having a tremendously awful time at the G20 summit in Rome, ahead of what we can only assume is going to be a long week at the COP26 climate change summit.

Considering the Morrison government quite literally whipped up Australia’s plan for reaching net-zero less than a week ago — and that the government is yet to even produce the modelling to back said plan — it’s hardly surprising to see that Scotty is having a particularly rough time abroad right now.

The G20 summit took place over two days, serving as a precursor to COP 26, which kicked off in Glasgow on October 31. If the G20 has proven anything, it’s that Morrison is probably in for quite a rough week.

Footage obtained from the summit shows Morrison awkwardly trying to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with other world leaders, only to be given the silent treatment by quite literally everyone else in attendance — including former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. You truly love to see it.

If that wasn’t enough, Morrison also got a great welcome message in a local Italian newspaper, which urged world leaders not to “let Australia cheat on climate change”.

But it’s not just our lack of climate action that has landed the prime minister in hot water at the G20.

Morrison is also feeling the heat from our decision to nuke a $90-billion submarine contract with France just six weeks ago. And as it turns out, French President Emmanuel Macron still isn’t too stoked on the situation.

When asked by Australian reporters if he thought Morrison had lied to him about the country’s intentions, he clarified his feelings.

“I don’t think, I know,” he replied.

“The AUKUS deal was very bad news for France — but not just for France, because I think it’s a very bad news for credibility of Australia and a very bad news for the trust that great partners can have with the Australians.

“I think this is detrimental to the reputation of your country and your prime minister.”

The pair’s relationship right now is best summed up by this incredible photo snapped at the event.

And no, this isn’t the only time Morrison has awkwardly been papped without a mask at the event.

Morrison then went on to wrap up his total shit-show of an appearance at G20 by using his final remarks to defend our questionable net-zero plan in front of nations that have actually made a firm and legally binding commitment to the target.

Instead of giving a hard and fast commitment, Morrison simply gave a vague promise of “phasing out investment in new unabated coal power-generation capacity … as soon as possible”. No deadline, no real commitment — nothing.

“Australia has already reduced its emissions by more than 20 percent on 2005 levels, which is more than most of the countries sitting around this table,” he told the other leaders in attendance.

By the conclusion of G20 on Sunday afternoon, the nations’ language surrounding net-zero commitments was eventually watered down to simply “by or around mid-century”, which assigns very little accountability to world leaders when it comes to actually, you know, meeting these targets.

COP26 kicks off this week, where Scott Morrison will undoubtedly continue to make a fool of himself on the world’s stage.