Scott Morrison keeps attention on jobs, not statues and culture wars

Scott Morrison has questioned how Black Lives Matter rallies and removing colonial statues would ‘help jobs and reopen businesses’.

Scott Morrison in question time on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison has questioned how Black Lives Matter rallies and removing colonial statues would “help jobs and reopen businesses”, as anti-racism protests continue to rage worldwide.

The Prime Minister told MPs at Tuesday’s Coalition partyroom meeting he had been thinking about how the “quiet Australians” had processed the marches and the debate on whether to remove statues connected to colonisation and the historical oppression of indigenous Australians.

According to a party spokesman, Mr Morrison said he was sure most Australians were asking “How does this help my job security? How does this help me reopen my business?”

Sources said Mr Morrison was confident that Australians did not want the government to be “distracted”.

The Prime Minister’s comments came as BLM protests across Australia appeared to peter out compared with the continuing upswell of marches across the US and Europe.

Last week, he said he would not become involved in history wars and the removal of potentially ­offensive films and TV shows from streaming services.

On Tuesday, Josh Frydenberg backed Mr Morrison’s message on the statues debate and evoked words from indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt, who has called for Australians to acknowledge Australia’s colonial past and not “tear it down”.

Labor figures including Anthony Albanese have also sought to quell the statues debate. The Opposition Leader said he would not support the removal of Captain Cook’s statue in Hyde Park, Sydney, after it was vandalised and had to be guarded by police.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge is standing by a staff member who was charged with defacing a statue of Cook. Mr Shoebridge spoke in support of the part-time employee, Xiaoran Shi, who is out on bail and due to reappear in court on July 2.