After doing his best Harold Holt impression by disappearing off the face of this green(ish) earth as bushfires are raging across NSW, Scott Morrison has finally emerged from wherever he was to address the big elephant in the room: The religious discrimination bill.
Oh, Scotty also talked a bit about the NSW bushfires and, well, his response leaves much to be desired.
During a visit to a smoke-filled Sydney to chat about his religious discrimination bill, Scott Morrison was asked about the bushfires and concerns over how the many thousands of volunteer firefighters – many of whom are taking leave from work to combat the bushfires – can keep this up without any pay (especially with 89 fires still burning), and our PM’s response was essentially “they want to be out there.”
“And the fact is these crews, yes, they’re tired, but they also want to be out there defending their communities. And so we do all we can to rotate the shifts to give them those breaks but … in many cases you’ve got to hold them back to make sure they get that rest. And I thank them all for what they’re doing, particularly all those who support them.”
Not sure what bushfires Scott Morrison has been following but we’re pretty sure volunteer firefighters aren’t skipping work to do this because they “want to be out there.”
When asked about sending aid to the thousands of volunteers so they don’t have to worry about money and also get some rest during this bushfire season, Scotty said no to the idea of professionalising these firefighters.
“The volunteer effort is a big part of our natural disaster response and it is a big part of how Australia has always dealt with these issues.
“We are constantly looking at ways to better facilitate the volunteer effort, but to professionalise that at that scale is not a matter that has previously been accepted and it’s not currently under consideration by the government.”
So despite the former Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner warning that volunteer firefighters are on their last legs and a current firefighter begging for more resources, Scott Morrison, who is our PM in case people needed reminded, won’t spare a cent while saying that those folks want to be out there fighting the bushfires.
NSW may be burning down, those fighting the bushfires may be on their last legs, and Scott Morrison may be refusing to help the efforts, but at least ol’ mate got the latest draft of his religious discrimination bill done so that’s something at least!
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