Scott Morrison hits back at critics of planned G7 side trip to trace family’s convict past
Scott Morrison says suggestions he used G7 trip to plan Cornwall holiday to trace ancestry are ‘massively’ overstated.
Scott Morrison has hit back at suggestions he used his trip to the G7 in the UK to plan a holiday in Cornwall to trace his ancestry, describing the claims as “massively” overstated.
A photo of the pub in Cornwall sparked anger among home-bound Australians, with the government forecasting international travel is off the table until mid-2022.
Mr Morrison also reportedly made a pilgrimage to St Keverne, a small village near Cornwall where his fifth great-grandfather was born.
It has also been reported that the Prime Minister’s Office spent weeks planning the G7 side trip to explore his convict roots.
Mr Morrison criticised the suggestion he was taking advantage of an official diplomatic trip and said both visits were at places to and from the airport.
“I wouldn’t describe it like that at all. I mean, we had to land north of London as opposed to landing down there in Cornwall because of the fog. And we stopped off along the way. We had some lunch and stopped off in another location on the way,” he told 2GB radio.
“After the G7 on the way to the airport, we stopped at another place, which just happens to be where my fifth great grandfather was from. So I think it was pretty innocent. I think that’s massively overstating it.”
Mr Morrison is now self-isolating in The Lodge and will attend today’s Question Time via web conference. He will also attend a virtual national cabinet meeting today on the vaccine rollout, following the national immunisation panel’s changed advice about the AstraZeneca shot.
Morrison’s Cornwall visit
Mr Morrison used an afternoon at the end of the G7 summit to trace one of his ancestor’s roots from the Cornwall area.
The Prime Minister is descended from First Fleet convict William Roberts, from St Keverne who was convicted of stealing “five pound and half weight of yarn” from William Moffatt in Cornwall and transported to the colony of NSW for seven years.
Mr Morrison visited sites near to the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay particular to his five times grandfather, including Bodmin Jail where Roberts was sentenced, and its museum, and the St Keverne parish church.
It’s believed the Prime Minister’s tour occurred after the summit had finished on Sunday and before a Monday meeting with the British prime minister Boris Johnson to finalise the UK-Australia free trade deal.
Mr Morrison laid flowers in the St Keverne churchyard, the local Cornwall Live site has reported.
The Prime Minister wrote in the church’s visitor book: “Thank you for your very kind welcome to St Keverne. It has been wonderful to return ‘home’ in memory of William Roberts.”
He signed it “Scott Morrison, MP, Prime Minister of Australia” before adding a postscript thanking “Karen”, referring to Karen Richards, of St Keverne History Society, who gave him a tour of the church and its grounds, Cornwall Live said.
Mr Morrison then had lunch at the Three Tuns pub with the Australian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, George Brandis enjoying a pint of local lager, Korev, and a sandwich.
Roberts was transported to Sydney Cove aged 32 in one of the 11 ships of the First Fleet, and after the seven years in the colony was granted his ticket of leave.
He married Kezia Brown, another convict sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing clothes from her master in Gloucester. The couple had ten children and were granted land.
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