‘Mistakes? I’ve made a few’: Scott Morrison’s pitch to voters

Scott Morrison has taken responsibility for pandemic errors, conceding that he underestimated Omicron.

Scott Morrison says ‘I’ll take my fair share of the criticism and the blame’. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has taken responsibility for mistakes made during the pandemic and conceded he underestimated the Omicron threat and shouldn’t have raised the hopes of Australians over ­summer.

In his first major election-year speech, at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the Prime Minister attempted to reconnect with voters and sharpen the election fight with ­Anthony Albanese over the economy, national security, tax cuts, energy prices, manufacturing and health.

After the Coalition slumped further behind Labor in Newspoll, falling to an election-losing two-party-preferred vote of 44 per cent, Mr Morrison said he hadn’t got everything right and “I’ll take my fair share of the criticism and the blame”.

“It goes with the job,” the Prime Minister said. “But so does getting up each day, dealing with the challenges, staying positive, and believing in the strength and good nature and resilience of the ­Australian people and, above all, never giving up.

“In these times we have experienced, there has been no guidebook and you have to make decisions in real time. But with hindsight the view does change and lessons are learned.”

Mr Morrison, who was ushered out the back door of the NPC to avoid hundreds of anti-vax protesters, refused to use the word “sorry” for mistakes including being too optimistic about the Omicron threat, raising the expectations of Australians over summer and moving too slowly on the vaccine rollout. “We could have communicated more clearly about the risks and challenges that we still faced,” he said. “And I think in raising those expectations about the summer, that we heightened the great sense of disappointment that people felt.”

On vaccines, Mr Morrison regretted that he hadn’t treated the national jabs rollout as a military program from the outset. “I wish we’d done that earlier. And that’s a lesson,” he said.

The third “lesson”, for which he did not take responsibility, was the “blurred” interface between the aged care sector and public hospital system, which exacerbated workforce shortages during the pandemic.

Mr Morrison said the election battle would be fought on who had a better economic management track record, given inflationary pressures overseas and rising geopolitical tensions.

As revealed by The Australian on Monday, Mr Morrison said Treasury now expected the unemployment rate would dip below 4 per cent this year.

Declaring the election should not be a referendum on the government, Mr Morrison said the Coalition had stronger pedigree in growing the economy and keeping Australians safe. “This election is a choice … and this choice isn’t about a referendum-style choice, a yes and no on the government,” the Prime Minister said.

“It’s about do you want the Liberal and Nationals, myself as Prime Minister, with our record on economic management and national security. Or do you want Anthony Albanese as prime minister and the Labor Party and their policies and their record on having an each-way bet on the budget and each-way bet on national security.

“That is the choice of an election and Australians will have the time to weigh these things up.”

With Labor ramping up criticism of the government’s management of the pandemic, Mr Morrison blamed the shortage of rapid antigen tests, long lines at Covid-19 testing clinics and empty supermarket shelves on Omicron’s unpredictability.

Attempting to paint a more positive outlook ahead of the federal election, due by May, Mr Morrison said the federal government had now contracted 78 million rapid antigen tests, and more than 652,000 concession card holders had secured more than 2.7 million free kits in the past week. The government is sending 10 million rapid antigen tests to the states and territories and 8 million to the aged care sector.

“You must accept that you may lose a few battles along the way,” he said. “And when these setbacks occur you must keep moving forward. You can’t dwell on the things that haven’t play out as you may have expected or liked. When this occurs, the job is to get across the problem and make the changes needed as soon as possible. And get on with it.

Mr Morrison defended the federal government’s role in failing to secure more rapid antigen tests, declaring they had not been ­approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration until November.

“Prior to that, and in many states, they were actually outlawed,” he said.

Selling the Coalition’s economic management credentials, Mr Morrison said “jobs change lives, families and communities”.

“I believe we can now achieve an unemployment rate with a 3 in front of it this year,” he said. “Our goal is to achieve this in the second half of 2022. We have not seen this in Australia for almost half a century. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“What it means, unemployment with a 3 in front of it, is that as our economy changes there are jobs to go to, enabling families and local communities to plan for their future with confidence.”

Asked if he had lost touch with ordinary Australians ahead of the election and whether he could name the price of a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol and rapid antigen test, Mr Morrison said: “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. I’m not going to pretend that I do that. My job every day is to ensure that those things are as affordable as they possibly can be for Australians every single day.”

In a Q&A following the NPC speech, Mr Morrison was quizzed about alleged text messages exchanged between former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and an unnamed Liberal cabinet minister. Ms Berejiklian was quoted as describing Mr Morrison as a “horrible, horrible person” and that she did not trust him. The unnamed minister allegedly described Mr Morrison as a fraud and “complete psycho”.

In response, Mr Morrison said “I don’t know who you’re referring to or the basis of what you’ve put to me, but I obviously don’t agree with it, and I don’t think that’s my record,” he said.

Ms Berejiklian, who Mr Morrison unsuccessfully lobbied to run in the Sydney seat of Warringah, released a statement saying she had “no recollection of such messages”. “Let me reiterate my very strong support for Prime Minister Morrison and all he is doing for our nation during these very challenging times. I also strongly believe he is the best person to lead our nation for years to come,” Ms Berejiklian said.