Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been spotted in his volunteer firefighting gear battling blazes south of Sydney for the second time this week.
Mr Abbott, 62, has been a member of his local Rural Fire Service in a voluntary capacity for more than a decade and has helped to fight blazes in the past.
The NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol shared a photograph of Mr Abbott posing alongside a police car in front of bushland scorched by fire on Sunday.
Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the nation’s current leader, Scott Morrison, to be sacked after taking his family on a holiday to Hawaii as Australia faced its worst bushfire crisis.
Former PM Tony Abbott posed for a picture with a highway patrol officer on Sunday
Scott Morrison has come under fire for taking a family holiday to Hawaii during Australia’s bushfire crisis. More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for him to resign
Mr Abbott was spotted at the Bargo BP service station wearing the uniform of his Davidson squadron on Friday before battling the Green Wattle Creek mega-blaze.
On the same day, Mr Morrison was pictured relaxing on a Hawaiian beach with his wife Jenny as he waited for a flight back to Australia amid national outrage over his trip.
Mr Morrison also participated in a radio interview with 2GB, reminding listeners that he doesn’t physically fight the fires even when he is in the country.
‘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,’ he said.
On Sunday morning Mr Morrison held his first press conference since arriving back in the country after a meeting at the RFS headquarters.
He apologised for the trip – which he planned seven weeks ago as a surprise for his two girls – but was mocked on social media for repeating the line ‘I don’t hold a hose’.
Scott Morrison has been mocked on social media for saying ‘I don’t hold the hose’
Retired political reporter Laurie Oakes slammed Mr Morrison after the PM said the government would not be changing its climate change policy
”I don’t hold the hose’ said the leader of our country in Hawaii while our country burned on his third holiday of the year after sitting barely any days in parliament,’ tweeted one man.
‘I’m trying really hard to find you sincere and I just can’t. You are full of hot air. Too little too late, please go away and shut up,’ wrote another.
Other Australians slammed Mr Morrison for saying the government would not change its climate change policy as a result of the bushfires.
‘He might as well rack off back to Hawaii then,’ tweeted retired political reporter Laurie Oakes.
‘Did he seriously just lecture the country on kindness and refuse to really apologise? For a dude that worked in sales his PR game is weak,’ added Laura Jensen.
As images circulate on social media of Tony Abbott helping with the bushfires, some have called for Mr Morrison to step down. Pictured: Mr Abbott in 2018
Australians have been questioning Mr Morrison’s whereabouts as he fled the country during the bushfire crisis. Pictured: Mr Morrison in Hawaii on Friday
Former prime minister Tony Abbott is seen fastening a tarp to a house that was damaged in a hail storm in 2018
A petition calling for Mr Morrison to lose his position as the nation’s leader has gathered more than 105,000 signatures.
Meanwhile Mr Abbott has been praised for his quiet decision to head to the fire front with his squadron and help fight the blazes.
‘As much as I’m not a fan of his political views, you have to respect him,’ one person wrote under a photo of him in his fire gear with a NSW Police officer.
Others said they hoped he’d be reinstated as the nation’s leader.
Helping hand: Former prime minister Tony Abbott (right) was pictured in his RFS uniform as he fights fires in Sydney’s south-west
Previous efforts: Kulnura brigade captain Mark Towell (left) and member Andrew Griffith (right) with Davidson deputy captain Tony Abbott (middle)
‘This absolute legend should be back running our country,’ one person wrote.
Comparisons between the two men have flooded social media in recent days, with one Twitter user saying Mr Morrison had ‘made Tony Abbott look like a good bloke’.
Another added: ‘I was never a fan of Tony Abbott but this has given me food for thought. How many other politicians have there been out there fighting the fires?’
A total fire ban is in place across New South Wales – after 40 homes in the state’s Southern Highlands were destroyed by the Green Wattle Creek blaze and two firefighters lost their lives in the region when their truck rolled off a road.
Mr Abbott (left) agreed to take a few snaps with fans – and the photos quickly went viral on social media