Scott Morrison has defended secretly taking his family on an overseas holiday to Hawaii during one of the worst bushfire seasons in history.
The Australian Prime Minister spoke to 2GB on Friday after revealing he ‘deeply regretted any offence caused’ by his holiday during the raging fires.
‘I’ll be coming back as soon as I can. It’s not easy to get back, but I will as soon as I can,’ he said.
‘I know Australians will understand this, and they’ll be pleased I’m coming back, I’m sure.
‘But they know that, you know, I don’t hold a hose mate, and I don’t sit in a control room. The brave people who do that are doing that job.’
It comes as calls grow for Mr Morrison to step down as Prime Minister, with more than 60,000 signing a petition for the Governor-General to dissolve parliament.
‘They (the Coalition) do not respect our democracy, our country or it’s people. They are in it only for themselves to make themselves and their mates richer than they already are while taking money and dignity from everyone else,’ the petition reads.
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
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 said the Hawaii trip was organised as a ‘bit of a surprise’ to his two daughters.
‘That (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.
‘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 to Hawaii during the bushfire crisis.
Objections to his surprise holiday only grew when his team refused to confirm where Mr Morrison had gone, citing ‘security concerns’ and ‘protocol’.
Mr Morrison reportedly went on the unannounced holiday with his family. (Pictured with his wife, Jenny, daughters Abbey and Lily and his mother Marion)
Mr Morrison said he had been receiving regular updates on the bushfires disaster as well as the status of the search for and treatment of the 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
The surprise holiday inspired the popular Twitter hashtag #wherethebloodyhellareya which has trended 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.’
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.’
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
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.
The Sydney-born model starred in the world-famous 2006 Tourism Australia campaign (pictured), which saw her promote Australia’s natural wonders
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.
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.
The Green Wattle Creek Fire (pictured) threatened a number of communities in the south west of Sydney on Thursday
‘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 blaze remained at emergency warning level early on Friday, along with the huge Gospers Mountain blaze northwest of Sydney.
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
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.