Scott Morrison’s quarantine barbecue ‘curry night’ sparks outrage

A photo of Prime Minister Scott Morrison behind the barbecue has sparked outrage among many Australians for one reason.

The Prime Minister has sparked outrage by sharing a photo of himself cooking a barbecue while quarantining after his return from overseas.

Scott Morrison is isolating inside The Lodge in Canberra following his return from the United States last month.

During his two week isolation period, Mr Morrison has been able to hold press conferences outside, but his latest Instagram post has sparked furore.

Alongside a photo of him behind a stainless steel barbecue, Mr Morrison wrote: “Day 13 of quarantine almost done. Saturday night curry night – chicken, eggplant and saag curry”.

Instagram users were quick to point out how “out of touch” Mr Morrison was with the rest of Australia, considering NSW, Victoria and the ACT remain in lockdown, and many Australians stranded overseas are still unable to get home.

“Read the room – pretty distasteful putting this up (when) most people have to quarantine without even being able to open a window, never mind cook a meal,” one user wrote.

“How is this quarantine … look (at) what you put other Australians through,” another said

“Gee, must be doing it tuff (sic) in quarantine,” said another.

“Lucky you. I had to do mine in a hotel room with no fresh air and the view out of the window was a brick wall. I didn’t see the sky for 14 days,” one said.

Some other users took a different tune.

“Who needs Uber Eats when you can cook that good,” one user said.

“Enjoy the barbecue PM,” another said.

While Mr Morrison is allowed to self quarantine at The Lodge with some of his staff, all Australians returning from overseas are still required to spend two weeks at a managed isolation facility.

Mr Morrison is under pressure to attend the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow later this month, which would mean another stint of quarantine. Picture: Gary Ramage / NCA NewsWire

It’s not the first time Mr Morrison has come under fire for activities related to his international trips and isolation.

Earlier this year, while on an official trip to the United Kingdom for the G7 summit, Mr Morrison spent some time visiting three English pubs despite Australians being banned from leaving the country.

Mr Morrison is yet to decide whether he will attend the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow later this month, citing concerns about having to quarantine again.

Mr Morrison has said he has not made “any final decisions” on attending.

“It’s another trip overseas … and I’ve spent a lot of time in quarantine,” he said.

Speaking to Sunday Agenda on Sky, NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean suggested Mr Morrison could quarantine for seven days in Sydney, compared to the 14 days required in the ACT.

“It’s very rare that the Australian government is invited to participate in an event with the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Chancellor of Germany, I mean, some of the most powerful world leaders, the people who are running the world,” Mr Kean said.

“I think that our Prime Minister should be at the table negotiating in Australia’s interests and negotiating in the planet’s interests.

“I think the community would expect governments would work together to ensure that we’re able to represent our interests on the world stage. I’m confident we can work through those issues.”