Anthony Albanese on the attack over Hawaii holiday text message

Scott Morrison is facing allegations he lied about a personal exchange with Anthony Albanese.

Scott Morrison is again facing allegations he misrepresented a personal exchange, this time with Anthony Albanese, amid an intensifying assault on the Prime Minister’s character. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison’s 2019 family holiday to Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires has ignited a question time brawl with Anthony Albanese, who accused the Prime Minister of being untruthful about the content of their personal text messages.

Mr Morrison disclosed details of a personal text exchange between himself and Mr Albanese from December 15, 2019, but Labor used the revelation to fuel its attack on his character.

It is the second time a private exchange between Mr Morrison and another political leader has been publicly disclosed after text messages were leaked between the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome over the decision to scrap the $90bn Naval Group submarine contract.

The parliamentary row happened after Labor backbencher Fiona Phillips asked in question time why Mr Morrison’s office had told journalists he was not on holidays when he was actually on leave in Hawaii with his family at the end of 2019.

Mr Morrison told parliament he had personally informed Mr Albanese of his holiday location by text message from the plane.

“I can only speak to what I have said,” Mr Morrison told parliament. “As the Leader of the Opposition will know because I texted him from the plane when I was going on that leave, and told him where I was going and he was fully aware of where I was travelling with my family.”

After a visibly bitter exchange between the pair forced speaker Tony Smith to intervene, the Opposition Leader challenged Mr Morrison’s version of events.

Mr Albanese conceded he was told that Mr Morrison was going “on leave”, but never informed that the destination was Hawaii.

“Mr Speaker, that is not true. On the 15th of December, 2019, at 9:44pm, the Prime Minister did text me saying he was going on leave. He did not tell me where he was going. He said he was going with his family,” Mr Albanese said.

“I kept that text message confidential, as you do with private text messages.”

Later, Mr Albanese lashed out at Mr Morrison, saying the problem stemmed from the fact that his holiday had not been divulged in the “normal way”. “The problem for this Prime Minister is that he has this character trait whereby he says whatever is convenient at the time, regardless of what the facts are. And it is just extraordinary that he has been prepared to do that,” Mr Albanese told Sky News.

Mr Morrison later returned to the despatch box to offer a clarification, declaring that he wished to “add to an answer.”

“I wanted to confirm what the Leader of the Opposition said that in that text I did not tell him the destination of where I was going on leave with my family. I simply communicated to him that I was taking leave.

“When I was referring to “he knew where I was going and was fully aware I was travelling with my family”, what I meant was that we were going on leave together.

“I know I did not tell him where we were going because that is a private matter where members take leave. And I know I did not tell him the destination, nor would I. Nor would he expect me to have told him where he (sic) was going. I simply told him that I was taking leave with my family and he was aware of that at that time.”

The exchange came after an intensifying assault on Mr Morrison’s character, with Labor MPs using question time to probe his perceived inconsistency on vaccine mandates, Clive Palmer’s High Court challenge and, finally, on his infamous trip to Hawaii.