Scott Morrison slams Alan Jones over sock comments made against Jacinda Ardern

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed Alan Jones after the radio presenter said he should ‘shove a sock’ down the throat of New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern.

Mr Morrison stepped out of a meeting with leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu on Thursday to say the 2GB presenter’s comments were ‘way out of line’.

‘The comment has been relayed to me; on what’s been reported to me, I find that very disappointing and of course that’s way out of line,’ he said.

‘I have two daughters, so you can expect that’s how I would feel personally about it. I’ll leave others to explain what they’ve said and how they’ve said it.’

Jones took to the airwaves to call Ms Ardern a ‘lightweight’ and a ‘clown’ following her comments on global warming at the forum on Wednesday.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has slammed Alan Jones after the radio presenter said he should ‘shove a sock’ down the throat of New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern (pictured, Mr Morrison at the Pacific Islands Forum at Tuvalu) 

Mr Morrison stepped out of a meeting with leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu on Thursday to say the 2GB presenter's comments were 'way out of line'

Mr Morrison stepped out of a meeting with leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu on Thursday to say the 2GB presenter’s comments were ‘way out of line’ 

Pressure has mounted for Australia to reduce its emissions with Ms Ardern warning the Australian government they would 'have to answer to the Pacific'

Pressure has mounted for Australia to reduce its emissions with Ms Ardern warning the Australian government they would ‘have to answer to the Pacific’ 

Pressure has mounted for Australia to reduce its emissions with Ms Ardern warning the Australian government they would ‘have to answer to the Pacific’. 

While Jones said Ms Ardern was ‘preaching on global warming’, Mr Morrison said the New Zealand prime minister’s comments were taken out of context.

He went on to thank Ms Ardern for her ‘support during the summit’. 

‘We don’t always have to agree, and we don’t, but when we disagree we should do it well,’ he said.

‘And I’m for there being lively debate and lively discussion and I’ve said for some time now, we’ve got to learn to disagree better and showing respect to each other and we did tonight.’ 

Mr Morrison is the most recent person to speak out against Jones’ comments against Ms Ardern.   

The Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama said it was easy for the broadcaster to make such remarks from the comfort of a radio studio. 

Mr Bainimarama is among a growing number of Pacific Island leaders at the forum to call for Australia to reduce its reliance on coal-powered energy.   

‘The people of the Pacific, forced to abandon their homes due to climate change, don’t have that luxury,’ he tweeted.

The Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama (pictured rigth with Ms Ardern at the forum) said it was easy for the broadcaster to make such remarks from the comfort of a radio studio

The Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama (pictured rigth with Ms Ardern at the forum) said it was easy for the broadcaster to make such remarks from the comfort of a radio studio

Jones was responding to the New Zealand Prime Minister warning the Liberal government they would 'have to answer to the Pacific' on global warming (Ms Ardern and Mr Morrison pictured at the forum on Wednesday)

Jones was responding to the New Zealand Prime Minister warning the Liberal government they would ‘have to answer to the Pacific’ on global warming (Ms Ardern and Mr Morrison pictured at the forum on Wednesday)

‘Try saying that to a Tuvaluan child pleading for help.’

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull liked Mr Bainimarama’s tweet, adding Jones should apologise to Ms Ardern for ‘his latest misogynistic rant.’

New Zealand is emerging as a strong ally with Fiji, with the Pacific nation’s leader also earlier tweeting about the benefits of having such an ally in tackling climate change.

‘Together, we can save Tuvalu, the Pacific, and the world. Vinaka vakalevu (thank you) for the passion you bring to this fight.’

The Radio 2GB host has defended his comments about the New Zealand leader, saying they had been willfully ‘misinterpreted’ by his many critics. 

Social media users including Australian Council of Trade Unions chief Sally McManus slammed Jones' remarks as 'disgusting'

Social media users including Australian Council of Trade Unions chief Sally McManus slammed Jones’ remarks as ‘disgusting’

‘Of course what I meant to say was that Scott Morrison should tell Ms Ardern to ‘put a sock in it’,’ Jones said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.   

He had earlier claimed New Zealand’s carbon dioxide had increased per capita more than Australia’s since 1990. 

‘There are many people who would relish the opportunity to misinterpret things that I have said as we have seen online this afternoon.’ 

Social media users including Australian Council of Trade Unions chief Sally McManus slammed Jones’ remarks as ‘disgusting’. 

They were compared online to infamous comments he once made about former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. 

Jones once said the former Australian leader should be ‘shoved in a chaff bag’, dumped out at sea and told to ‘swim home’. 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk