Scott Morrison Had His Ass Handed To Him By Tracy Grimshaw On ACA Last Night

With just days left before the next federal election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has finally acknowledged that his “I don’t hold a hose, mate” comment wasn’t helpful during the 2019 bushfires.

In an interview with A Current Affair’s Tracy Grimshaw on Tuesday night, Morrison was absolutely grilled about a number of questionable comments he’s made during his time as PM — kicking off with Grimshaw asking “how long have you known that you are a bulldozer?”

“I’ve been like that for some time,” he replied.

But in what feels like a first from Morrison, he then acknowledged (see: didn’t apologise for) the infamous hose comment after Grimshaw asked if he regretted it.

“Certainly, that wasn’t a comment at the time that was helpful, of course,” he said, adding that he could’ve been “more sensitive” at times throughout his time as leader.

For those who may have forgotten, it wasn’t just Morrison’s comment about not holding a hose that landed him in hot water in 2019 — it was an amalgamation of his actions (or lack thereof) throughout the entire bushfire crisis, which culminated in him fleeing on a Hawaiian vacation while much of the country burned.

But even if you look past the devastating 2019 bushfire season, Morrison has far from a perfect track record as Prime Minster — which Grimshaw didn’t hesitate to point out.

“You don’t hold a hose, you weren’t in your tinnie plucking people off rooftops, you weren’t doing 16-hour days in PPE on COVID wards, you didn’t get enough vaccines soon enough, you didn’t get enough RATs so that we could finally have a holiday interstate for Christmas, and China is set up, based in the Solomons. Do you think maybe you slightly over-egged the part about saving the country?” asked Grimshaw.

But alas, instead of taking any accountability for the non-exhaustive laundry list of issues Grimshaw raised, Morrison deflected — noting that Australia did better than other countries during the pandemic.

“Well, that’s quite a long list you’ve been able to pull together,” he said.

“Do you think maybe you slightly over-egged the part about ‘I saved the country’?”

Tonight on A Current Affair, Tracy Grimshaw goes head-to-head with Scott Morrison.

Hear the prime minister’s response TONIGHT at 7pm.
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— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) May 17, 2022