Susie O’Brien: PM’s ignorance on grocery costs a bad look in election year

Scott Morrison not knowing such basics as the price of petrol or a loaf of bread is a bad look while cost of living pressures loom as a major election issue for voters.

The Prime Minister should know the price of a loaf of bread and a litre of milk even if he doesn’t buy them himself.

Scott Morrison was asked if he had “lost touch with ordinary Australians” and could list the “price of a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol and a rapid antigen test”.

He replied: “I’m not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk”.

It’s an appalling cop-out in an election year.

Morrison has since wheeled out frontbencher Stuart Robert to reassure voters that his wife Jenny would be able to rattle off the prices.

It’s all very well to for the Prime Minister to play the 1950s wife card — as he’s done so often in the past — but he’s the one running the country, not her.

The fact that he doesn’t know such basic everyday prices is a bad look given that cost of living pressures is a major election issue for voters.

It’s not good enough for Scott Morrison to dismiss the cost of living question as a lazy ‘gotcha’ question; it’s something he should know. Picture: Gaye Gerard

A recent survey found 42 per cent of voters said the price of groceries and other basic shopping needs were among their most pressing concerns in an election year.

Overall, 86 per cent of voters say it’s an issue, with 16 per cent saying it’s only issue they’re concerned about.

It’s not good enough for Morrison to dismiss the cost of living question as a lazy “gotcha” question from a press gallery journalist; it’s something he should know.

Former Prime Ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd were regularly asked the question. Mr Howard apparently carried the latest figures around with him on a daily basis.

Morrison doesn’t have popularity of another former PM, Bob Hawke, who could get away with saying that he’d never been inside a supermarket and that “Hazel does the shopping”.

Federal governments decide how much people on low incomes earn – about $20 an hour — and how much income support they get. Morrison is leading a government that gives people on Newstart just $40 a day, telling them that the “best form of welfare is a job”. So, it’s only reasonable that the Prime Minister knows how far this money will stretch.

It’s all very well to for the Prime Minister to play the 1950s wife card but he’s the one running the country, not her. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

It’s also a relevant issue for those living in institutions like aged care homes, as the Dietitians Association pointed out today.

The association said it was “pleased to advise the Prime Minister that a 1L bottle of milk and standard loaf of bread currently costs about $5.75. “This is on par with the average spend on food per resident in aged care which is $6 per day … which could explain why 50 per cent of Australians in residential aged care are malnourished.”

It’s also a bad look coming during a mea culpa speech in which Morrison admitted he hasn’t managed the pandemic as well as he could have.

“I haven’t got everything right. And I’ll take my fair share of the criticism and the blame. It goes with the job,” he said.

“I understand and I acknowledge the frustration, especially with how this global pandemic has played out over this past very difficult summer … You’ve had to put up with a lot.”

Yes, PM, we have had to put up with a lot, and today definitely didn’t help.