Going on an overseas trip is pretty much off the cards for the foreseeable future due to this COVID-19 pandemic thing. Unless you’re Scott Morrison, bloke who told us all no holidays outside of Australia, because he’s got big plans for a U.S. trip so he can hang out with his mate Trump at Washington DC as part of the G7 Summit.
Speaking of COVID-19, the GOAT team talks about the importance of wearing a face mask on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
Chatting to reporters on Tuesday, Scott Morrison says a trip to the U.S. in September as part of the planned G7 Summit is still on the cards after mentioning it in June, saying how it is in Australia’s best interests to attend due to the “important opportunities” present.
“I intend to visit Washington myself should the G7-plus meeting go ahead. These are important opportunities for Australia. It would be extraordinary if we didn’t seek to attend these meetings.
“Our alliance with the United States is the bedrock of Australia’s defence strategy. So would it be highly irregular for us not to seek to take every opportunity for those meetings to be held face-to-face and I’m very pleased that they are proceeding on that basis.”
Okay, so this isn’t one of Scott Morrison’s usual holidays where he buggers off somewhere (like Hawaii) while leaving Australia at the hands of its Premiers since rubbing shoulders with Trump at Washington DC as part of the G7 Summit is technically working.
Having said that though, one has to wonder why on this green(ish) earth would Scotty From Marketing even consider jetting off to the U.S. at this point in time, regardless of whether it was for a holiday or work.
The United States is currently leading the world in terms of number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, and things definitely don’t seem to be improving either with the Big Orange Baby in the White House repeatedly screwing up America’s response to the pandemic. Hell, in Washington DC alone there are 11,858 positive cases, which is pretty bloody alarming considering the city’s population is only around 700K.
Taking into account the overwhelming amount of flak that Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne got for jetting over to Washington DC as part of the Australian-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), and the fact that there are genuine concerns COVID-19 may be running rampant among high-ranking Trump officials following confirmation that US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien tested positive for the coronavirus, one wonders how Scott Morrison is still so confident that his September US holiday work trip will go ahead as planned.
It’s just interesting to point out how Scott Morrison was so keen on cancelling a sitting of Federal Parliament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and telling everyone to stay put in Australia, yet he seems to have no qualms taking an overseas trip to the U.S. – i.e the world’s biggest COVID-19 hotspot by some margin.
Apropos of nothing, Hawaii is also part part of the US. Just saying.
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