Lisa Wilkinson weighs in on Prime Minister’s ‘blessed’ remark

Project host Lisa Wilkinson has thrown support behind wheelchair athlete Dylan Alcott after his comments slamming the Prime Minister.

Project host Lisa Wilkinson has thrown support behind wheelchair athlete Dylan Alcott after his comments slamming the Prime Minister for saying he was “blessed” to not have a child with a disability.

Mr Morrison was questioned about what the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme would look like under his government by an audience member at the Sky News/The Courier Mail People’s Forum on Wednesday evening in Brisbane.

The woman, Catherine, said she had a four-year-old autistic son, and his NDIS funding had been cut by 30 per cent.

“Jenny and I have been blessed, we have two children who haven’t had to go through that,” he continued. And so for parents, with children who are disabled, I can only try and understand your aspirations for those children.

“And then I think that is the beauty of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.”

Tennis star and current Australian of the Year Alcott took particular offence to the Prime Minister’s remark.

“Woke up this morning feeling very blessed to be disabled – I reckon my parents are pretty happy about it too,” he wrote on Thursday.

“Feeling sorry for us and our families doesn’t help. Treating us equally, and giving us the choice and control over our own lives does.”

Wilkinson said Alcott was a “true leader” and mentioned Australia was “blessed” to have him represent the nation across the world.

Australian Of The Year @DylanAlcott is not only blessed…for all of us he is a blessing. And a true leader.

More tonight on @theprojecttvhttps://t.co/cGN82uz9tA

— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) April 21, 2022

Lawyer and disability advocate Sam Drummond said he didn’t believe Scott Morrison meant any harm by his comment but said he wished society to “view disability as a good thing”.

“There is a deeply held view within Australian society that disability is a bad thing and that it happens to other people and when it does happen to us that it is a tragedy,” he told The Project panel.

“So when we hear things like, it‘s a blessing that it doesn’t happen, or I’m praying for you, the message that people with a disability get is that there’s something wrong with you and that there’s something to be fixed.

“We hear this all the time and comments like this do follow us down the street and impact our daily.”

After swift outrage online, Scott Morrison has apologised for comments he made during the Leaders Debate about disabled Australians. Discrimination Lawyer @samdrummond joins us. #TheProjectTVpic.twitter.com/vB6XasBgpr

— The Project (@theprojecttv) April 21, 2022

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes, also a mum of a son with autism, slammed Mr Morrison’s opponents for “politicising” the issue and missing the point.

“I cannot believe that this is what they want to focus on,” she told Sydney’s 2GB radio.

“You know, (the Prime Minister and Jenny) were blessed. They tried for 14 years to have children. And they‘re blessed with two beautiful daughters.

“But if that‘s what you want to pick up from the Prime Minister, if you want to push this point that somehow he’s disregarding the experience … go away, stop politicising our experience if you’ve never been through it.”

Originally published as Lisa Wilkinson weighs in on Prime Minister’s ‘blessed’ remark