Scott Morrison has already stoked criticism for his bushfire response by jetting off on a luxury Christmas holiday to Hawaii.
Now embarrassing footage has emerged of the Prime Minister slamming a police leader who went out to dinner during the Black Saturday fire of 2009.
Mr Morrison, then an ambitious MP, went on ABC’s Q&A as a guest panelist and was highly critical of then Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon.
He said it was ‘incumbent’ on all public officials to show good judgement during times of national crisis.
It comes just hours after Mr Morrison was claimed to have secretly flown to Honolulu on a business class Jetstar flight, as huge swathes of the country are still ablaze.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his wife, Jenny (pictured together) during a previous trip away. They are understood to be in Honolulu for a ‘well-deserved break’
‘She’s clearly made a bad judgement call, that happens to people from time to time,’ he said in 2010.
‘But this was a very serious issue and I think there are very serious concerns in the community about exercising judgement.
‘And it’s incumbent on of all us in public life to make decisions following that in the best interests of the ongoing nature of the program.’
At the start of Mr Morrison’s alleged holiday, there were still more than 100 raging bushfires scorching NSW alone.
A firefighter conducts back-burning measures (pictured) to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires in the Central Coast on December 10
The Gospers Mountain megafire, the size of greater Sydney, is still not contained.
Firefighters have warned of devastating conditions this week as a heatwave makes it nearly impossible to battle the blazes.
Ms Nixon had gone out to dinner during the height of the Black Saturday fires, which killed 173 people in 2009.
On Tuesday, New South Wales Greens MP David Shoebridge claimed Mr Morrison had flown to Hawaii with his wife Jenny and two daughters Abbey, 11, and Lily, 9.
The Prime Minister’s office said it could not reveal his holiday location, citing ‘security reasons’.
But on Wednesday, and airport staff member confirmed the earlier reports.
Scott Morrison (pictured) appeared on ABC’s Q&A panel show back in 2010, where he criticised the then Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon
Earlier in the 2010 panel discussion, Mr Morrison said it was up to Ms Nixon to decide if her conduct ‘impeded on the ability of that organisation to get on with the job’.
‘I think what’s most important here gets beyond any one individual, and that is public confidence in how the reconstruction effort is taking place,’ he said.
‘And while the premier may have made his call on Christine, it really is a matter for her to make a judgment whether the controversy surrounding her actions actually, at the end of the day, may well impede the ability of that organisation to get on with the job.’
Airport witnesses confirmed they had seen Mr Morrison earlier this week heading to his holiday.
Mr Shoebridge slammed Mr Morrison in a scathing tweet asking if he’d ‘noticed the country was on fire’.
‘We have heard rumours @ScottMorrisonMP is in Hawaii #ClimateEmergency,’ he wrote.
Mr Morrison’s office released a statement saying the PM was on ‘leave’ but was receiving ‘regular updates on the status of victims of the White Island tragedy as well as details on the bushfires across the country’.
National Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack will be acting leader until Thursday when Mr Morrison returns to Australia.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the PM was having a ‘well deserved break’.
‘It’s been a very busy year,’ Mr Frydenberg said. ‘He’ll be back at work shortly and then he’ll be off to India leading a delegation to advance Australia’s interests.’
So where is Scott Morrison? Greens MP David Shoebridge asked his followers that question, before claiming he’d heard rumours the PM was in Hawaii
The leave had not been formally announced, and was the first family holiday the PM had taken since he whisked his family away to Fiji soon after securing the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Six people had died and more than 720 homes have been destroyed by the current bushfire crisis.
Mr Morrison has refused to be drawn into a debate on the cause of the fires and the relation to climate change
Mr Morrison offered ‘thoughts and prayers’ to victims of the blazes and assured the Australian public all was being done to help volunteer firefighters.
Former New South Wales Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins claimed he had tried to organise a meeting with the PM – well before fires began almost six weeks ago in early November.
Mr Mullins said state and territory fire services even requested further resources two years ago – predicting conditions would continue to deteriorate in the coming years.
‘The government just sat on it,’ he said.
Former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins (centre) is urging the PM to meet with him
Mr Mullins also slammed statements coming from the government and people in positions of power that arsonists are the reason for these bushfires rather than climate change.
He argued climate change has changed weather conditions and lengthened the bushfire season into both autumn and spring.
Mr Morrison reportedly pre planned a trip away to align with his daughters school holidays (Pictured with his wife, Jenny, daughters Abbey and Lily and his mother Marion)