Waleed Aly apologised for The Project airing the edited clip
Waleed Aly has attempted to set the record straight after Channel 10 broadcast edited vision showing an elderly firefighter tell Scott Morrison he ‘wasn’t her prime minister’ – but not everyone is buying the apology.
Voters were quick to praise the woman, Jacqui, for taking a shot at Mr Morrison in footage aired on The Project, but it was an unedited version shows she made the comment because of her British nationality.
The Project was accused of selectively editing the footage in a bid to ‘mislead’ the public and get a cheap laugh at the prime minister’s expense.
Aly apologised on air on Tuesday for the clip and said the program had taken ‘full responsibility’ – but insisted audio troubles were to blame.
‘We need to make a correction in relation to that clip. It turns out there was a longer exchange between Jacqui and the PM that followed that where she explained that she was in fact a UK citizen and that that’s why ScoMo was not her PM,’ he said.
‘The problem for us is significant parts of that were inaudible so we couldn’t exactly deduce what was in that exchange.
‘We spoke to the Rural Fire Service today Jacqui wants to be crystal clear the comment was meant to be light-hearted, she has no issue with the PM.’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) meeting RFS Volunteer firefighter Jacqui (right)
Aly (left) said the program takes ‘full responsibility’ for the mistake and hopes the apology clearly up the issue
Aly insisted the program hadn’t made a ‘deliberate mistake,’ but it was ‘a mistake nonetheless’.
‘We think it’s important to own up to your mistakes and come clean about those things and we take full responsibility for it and we hope that clears it up,’ he said.
But some viewers on Twitter weren’t convinced by the apology and said there was nothing wrong with the audio.
‘How come everyone else could hear it? Genuine question. Did they have different vision? Audio [was] fine on what I saw (sic),’ one commented.
‘I’m partially deaf and wasn’t wearing hearing aids when I heard the video’s audio and it certainly did not appear to be a confrontation worthy of a twitter storm,’ another said.
The unedited version of the clip showed Mr Morrison visiting evacuated residents and firefighters in Mudgee, NSW, on Monday when he was introduced to Jacqui.
‘This is the prime minister,’ Member for Calare MP Andrew Gee told Jacqui as cameras followed the trio to capture the interaction.
‘He’s not my prime minister,’ Jacqui replied, while locked in a handshake.
‘I’m not a resident.’
‘This is the prime minister,’ Member for Calare MP Andrew Gee told Jacqui upon their meeting
She replied: ‘He’s not my prime minister,’ while locked in a handshake
On Tuesday morning, Mr Morrison took to Twitter and shared a photo with Jacqui and Mr Gee, clearing up the mishap which aired the night before.
‘Indeed, as Jacqui joked with me yesterday, I’m not her PM, because she’s British, Boris Johnson is,’ he tweeted.
‘But with local MP Andrew Gee, we made a decent pitch for her to become an Aussie yesterday.
‘She & the other RFS volunteers have been doing an incredible job battling these blazes.’
Mr Gee also released a clarification on Facebook after people asked what the trio were laughing at.
‘Jacqui is a British, citizen, not Australian, with quite a clear British accent,’ he said.
‘We were jokingly trying to get her to sign up for Aussie citizenship after Jacqui lightheartedly (but correctly) pointed out that ScoMo wasn’t her PM for that reason. Boris is Jacqui’s PM!’
A government insider claimed the footage was a ‘typical misrepresentation from The Project’.
‘Wilfully ignoring facts and context just to get a laugh and mock the prime minister,’ the insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They have a long history of trying to stitch up the PM, to give their handful of viewers a laugh and to trend in Twitter land.’
Mr Morrison tweeted that Jacqui was British and made the joke because her prime minister is Boris Johnson
Despite the controversy, Jacqui’s bold comment quickly did the rounds online.
‘Oh Jacqui. You wonderful woman! I hereby declare you Australian of the Year!’ one person said.
‘Classic, she got to say to his face what a lot of are thinking. Must have felt so good. Congrats Jacqui, you’re a star,’ said another.
Thousands of people liked tweets declaring Jacqui was a ‘hero’, while others suggested the woman should take Mr Morrison’s job.
Other viewers used the interaction to poke fun at Mr Morrison.
‘Is there somebody with a hose around for that burn?’ one person said.
‘He might not believe in climate change but you better believe Jacqui is heating up!’ wrote another.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a briefing at Cudgegong District RFS HQ in Mudgee, northwest of Sydney on Monday
Mr Morrison has been heavily criticised for taking a secretive holiday in Hawaii while the country continued to fight catastrophic bushfires.
After returning from the getaway on Saturday evening, the Prime Minister faced the media on Sunday and apologised for taking leave.
‘I get it that people would have been upset to know that I was holidaying with my family while their families were under great stress,’ he said at the RFS headquarters in Sydney Olympic Park.
‘They know that I will not stand there and hold a hose. I am not a trained firefighter nor am I an expert like those in the next room doing an amazing job.
‘But I am comforted by the fact that Australians would like me to be here simply so I can be here alongside them as they go through this terrible time… I apologise for that.’