Scott Morrison has been pictured relaxing in Hawaii just hours after he said he would come home ‘as soon as I can’.
The image, posted on Twitter by an Aussie tourist, showed the Prime Minister sitting down next to his wife Jenny with a drink on the table.
The caption read: ‘Scott Morrison sighted a very short time ago (Fri 20/12 7pm) by my uncle in Hawaii. Looks like he’s in a real hurry to get back.’
Scott Morrison has been pictured relaxing in Hawaii just hours after he said he would come home ‘as soon as I can’
The image, posted on Twitter by an Aussie tourist, showed the Prime Minister sitting down next to his wife Jenny with a drink on the table
Earlier the PM defended jetting off to Hawaii for a family holiday at the height of the bushfire crisis, pointing out he doesn’t ‘hold a hose’ like firefighters.
The Australian Prime Minister further angered voters in a radio interview on Friday as he apologised for ‘any offence caused’ by his decision to go on holiday to the idyllic American island with his wife and two daughters.
‘It’s not easy to get back, but I will as soon as I can,’ Mr Morrison told 2GB radio.
‘I know Australians will understand this, and they’ll be pleased I’m coming back… but they know that, you know, I don’t hold a hose mate.’
His latest controversial remarks come after an online petition calling on the Governor General to remove him as Prime Minister received more than 70,000 signatures.
A photo of a group of Australian tourists who claimed to be with Prime Minister Scott Morrison (second from right) has emerged on social media
The Change.org petition claims that recent bushfires across NSW, Queensland and Victoria could have been prevented with better governance.
‘The recent fires in NSW are just the beginning as things will undoubtedly get worse,’ it reads.
‘There have also been many vulnerable Australian deaths as a result of the policies and indifference of this Government.
‘They have lost the right to govern us and have forgotten that they have been elected as representatives.’
Only one Australian prime minister has ever been removed from office, with Gough Whitlam deposed by Governor General John Kerr on November 11, 1975.
Mr Morrison said the Hawaii trip was organised as ‘a surprise’ for his two daughters.
‘(Hawaii) is sometimes where we go privately for our holidays. We spend a lot of time in Australia on our holidays as well.’
‘We had planned to spend it down the South Coast as we usually do, but we had to bring it forward because of those commitments we had in India and Japan.
Mr Morrison’s comments on Sydney radio station 2GB caused outrage on social media, with Twitter users slamming him for his ‘leadership’ and his lack of empathy
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’
Mr Morrison reportedly went on the unannounced holiday with his family. (Pictured with his wife, Jenny, daughters Abbey and Lily and his mother Marion)
‘So we had to tell the girls we wouldn’t be spending as much time down there, so in return I tried to give them a bit of a nice surprise and take them here.’
The prime minister faced fierce criticism for going on an unannounced family break at a time where fires were claiming lives and homes.
Volunteer firefighters Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton were killed on Thursday evening when their truck hit a fallen tree and rolled.
Mr O’Dwyer – a father-of-three – and Mr Keaton – father to a young boy – had been in the Rural Fire Service as volunteers for more than a decade.
Objections to Mr Morrison’s surprise holiday only grew when his office refused to if he had gone on holiday, citing ‘security concerns’ and ‘protocol’.
Mr Morrison said he had been receiving regular updates on the bushfires disaster as well as the ongoing search for and treatment of victims of the White Island tragedy.
‘The Commonwealth’s responsibilities have been well managed by the Acting Prime Minister, Minister Littleproud and Minister Payne,’ he said.
‘As noted, given the most recent tragic events, I will be returning to Sydney as soon as can be arranged.’
It comes after a group of Australian tourists seemed to end the ongoing mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Mr Morrison.
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
Mr Morrison’s holiday led to the Twitter hashtag #wherethebloodyhellareya trending across the country all week.
It’s a reference to the famous $186 million ad campaign featuring model Lara Bingle, which was made when Mr Morrison was Tourism Australia’s boss.
He had even faced criticism from model mode Ms Bingle, who slammed her former boss, using the marketing slogan that made her famous.
Ms Bingle, 32, who now goes by the name of Worthington after marrying the Australian actor Sam, referenced her famous Tourism Australia catch-cry from 2006 Tweeting: ‘Scott Morrison: WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU???’ on Twitter.
On Friday morning, the Prime Minister expressed condolences to the families of the two firefighters killed on Thursday night.
‘They were bravely defending their communities with an unmatched spirit and a dedication that will forever set them apart amongst our most courageous Australians,’ he said.
‘Their sacrifice and service saving lives and saving properties will be forever remembered. I wish those injured all the best in their recovery.’
The Sydney-born model starred in the world-famous 2006 Tourism Australia campaign (pictured), which saw her promote Australia’s natural wonders
A firefighter conducts back-burning measures (pictured) to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires in the Central Coast on December 10
Mr Morrison said Australians were deeply grateful to all of those battling the fires.
‘These fires and heat conditions are horrendous, and there are still difficult days ahead, with Saturday predicted to be the most severe day, with extreme temperatures and wind making conditions very difficult for fire crews,’ he said.
‘We wish all of those putting themselves in harm’s way for all of us, all the best. Stay safe, stay together.’
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had said the prime minister’s leave was a matter for him.
‘He made the decision and it’s a matter for his judgement when he goes on holiday,’ Mr Albanese told reporters at a bushfire ground outside Sydney.
‘One of the issues has been the lack of information and transparency around this.’
On Thursday night, as the ‘where the bloody hell are you’ hashtag continued to trend, a photo emerged from Hawaii showing Mr Morrison with two men and a woman on a beach as the sun set behind them.
The group in the photo are also shown flashing the ‘shaka sign’ – a highly-used hand gesture in Hawaii.
Mr Morrison had been cricital of former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon for attending a dinner with friends during the Black Saturday fires of 2009 that killed 173 people.
He said it was ‘incumbent’ on all public officials to show good judgement during times of national crisis.
It is unclear where exactly the photo was taken, but the man appearing to be the Australian prime minister was sporting a pair of board shorts he wore just weeks ago to a surf lifesaving event in Cronulla in southern Sydney
The NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers who died on Thursday night, from the Horsley Park brigade, were in a truck convoy near the town of Buxton when a tree fell into their path, prompting the vehicle to roll off the road.
The driver and front passenger died at the scene, police said, while three other firefighters were injured and have been hospitalised.
The fatal accident occurred at the end of an exhausting day during which it’s feared some 40 homes were lost in Buxton, Balmoral, Bargo and surrounding areas as the Green Wattle Creek blaze tore through the Wollondilly Shire.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the two firefighters represented the thousands of volunteers putting their lives at risk to fight fires.
‘I can imagine the shock they’re going through and the ripple effect it is going (to have) with the volunteers,’ Ms Berejiklian told Seven Network.
Also on Thursday, three firefighters were also treated for burns after their truck at the Green Wattle Creek blaze was enveloped by flames.
The Green Wattle Creek Fire (pictured) threatened a number of communities in the south west of Sydney on Thursday
Rural Fire Service crews battle to protect properties (pictured) along the Old Hume Highway near the town of Tahmoor as the Green Wattle Creek Fire rages on Thursday
The Green Wattle Creek blaze remained at emergency warning level early on Friday, along with the huge Gospers Mountain blaze northwest of Sydney.
Crews faced winds over 100km/h and 60-metre-high flame fronts, stoking a fire so fierce it sucked the oxygen out of the air.
Firefighters were hoping to make the most of lower temperatures across NSW on Friday and contain and douse fires before extreme weather returned on Saturday.
A week-long state of emergency has been declared in NSW and a statewide total fire ban remains in place.