Politics

Please Enjoy Scott Morrison Trying To Prove He Didn’t Get Caught In A Very Messy Lie

Morrison was forced to clarify comments that made it seem like he was alleging he had never used the phrase "Shanghai Sam" to refer to Labor MP Sam Dastyari (when he definitely had.)

by Joseph Earp  14 September 2019
scott morrison talking points

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Scott Morrison is not very elegant.

In fact, in a long line of inelegant Prime Ministers, old ScoMo might be the worst of the lot of them. There’s just something ungainly about him; when he gets caught in a verbal spar, he freezes up, mumbling his away around his gaffes like a doddering uncle at a barbeque.

Well, that thundering inability to think on his feet has got Morrison in trouble again this week.

The whole snafu starts with Gladys Liu, a government MP who has become mired in controversy after it was revealed that she once served in the propaganda arm of the Chinese government.

Though Liu holds a marginal seat in the government, Morrison has thrown his entire weight behind her. In the process of defending her, Morrison claimed that attacks on Liu should be considered an “insult” to the Chinese community at large.

In response to those claims, a journalist asked Morrison why it wasn’t racist to use the nickname “Shanghai Sam” to refer to Labor MP Sam Dastyari after his involvements with the Chinese government came to light, but that it was racist to criticise Liu.

His response? Morrison claimed that he had never used “either of those phrases.”

Only, of course, as many immediately pointed out, Morrison had called Dastyari “Shanghai Sam”. Lots of times, in fact.

In fact, Morrison even Tweeted it.

Clearly then, Morrison had some explaining to do.

So, he went on Ben Fordham’s radio show, and in the process argued that the “phrases” that he was referring to weren’t “Shanghai Sam” but instead the journalist’s double use of the word “racist.”

Ooft.

“I heard the word racist used twice,” he told Fordham. “Of course I remember saying Shanghai Sam.”

You can listen to the whole trainwreck interview with Fordham below, but be warned: it is deeply cringy.