History tells us Morrison was sacked but never admitted to deserving it. His errors never publicly disclosed. His term of office has been one of either “on the water matters” or outright denial of the obvious. It was amplified in his photos with Grace that the obvious to us all simply wasn’t happening. He applies the same to the outrageous behaviors of his ministers and acts in the worst of feudal of ways relying heavily on the media to protect him and move on.
It is, of course, not Colbeck who is facing severe hardship here, but those currently suffering in the aged-care system for which he is responsible. The statistics have been growing worse for days, but the latest figures are damning: it’s believed Omicron has spread to more than 700 aged-care homes, with more than half of all facilities in NSW now battling outbreaks and staff struggling to cope. One woman has thrown the situation into stark relief, telling SBS News that her father died of COVID-19 alone in his locked-down aged-care home, while waiting for an overdue booster shot, on the day after Colbeck had attended the cricket. Speaking to Breen today, Morrison said that he “understood” the criticism of Colbeck, even as he attempted to paint it as unwarranted. But it’s clear that the PM does not understand it. The fury over Colbeck’s decision to prioritise the cricket over the Senate committee, and to ignore an inquiry that is seeking to prevent mistakes from being made again, speaks to a larger anger over the government’s handling of the pandemic, and especially its bungling of aged care, with Colbeck remaining in his role despite misstep after misstep, death after death. People don’t want the government to take this criticism “on the chin”. They just want them to take it seriously.
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