After Hawaii holiday, Australia’s PM Scott Morrison roasted for video heralding his bush fire announcements

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a series of public relations missteps as nation looked to him for leadership

Last week a firefighter in the field had refused to shake Morrison’s hand when approached

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Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks at fire damage from an Australian Army helicopter. File photo: AP

Published: 11:02am, 5 Jan 2020Updated: 6:51pm, 6 Jan 2020

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison was lambasted and mocked on social media for politicising a beefed up defence force response to the nation’s catastrophic bush fires.

A 50-second video set to electronic music posted on Morrison’s Twitter and Facebook accounts Saturday outlining additional military-backed measures initially included a link to donate to the political leader’s Liberal Party, sparking thousands of comments.

Many praised the unprecedented scale up of army, naval and aircraft services, while others labelled images of the prime minister talking to firefighters as “shameless” advertising.

Key authorities in New South Wales and Victoria – the states hardest hit in the months-long inferno that’s killed 24 people – welcomed the news of the deployment of as many as 3,000 army reservists, but voiced disappointment that they weren’t consulted ahead of the decision or briefed before Morrison detailed his response plans to the media.

“The video message simply communicates the government’s policy decisions and the actions the government is undertaking to the public,” Morrison said in a Twitter post late Saturday amid a flurry of comments, including from Kevin Rudd, a former Labour Party leader who served as prime minister twice from December 2007 to September 2013.

Shadow minister for international development Pat Conroy described the ad as a “new low”, while the non-partisan Australia Defence Association, a public-interest watchdog, said the Liberal Party advert was a “clear breach” of conventions keeping the military out of politics.