Speaking to reporters in NSW,and in a clipped version later posted to his Facebook page,Mr Morrison said it was time for governments to step back from telling “frustrated” Australians what to do and allow them to “move forward with the freedoms that should be theirs”.
“They should be able to go and get a cup of coffee in Brisbane when you’re over 80 per cent,regardless of whether you’ve had the vaccines or not,” he said.
At the press conference,Mr Morrison also said there should be no tolerance for threats against politicians and that he did not support state-based Liberal MPs in Victoria attending recent protests withfringes advocating violence.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the Prime Minister’s comments threatened to derail delayed progress toward state vaccination targets for his own “cynical political interests”.
“He has chosen to throw his weight – the weight of the high office of the Prime Minister – behind dangerous fringe elements such as those who protested yesterday here and in Melbourne,” he said.
On Twitter,federal Labor Senator Murray Watt said:“Scott Morrison is so worried about losing votes to other right-wing parties that he’ll put Qlders’ health and jobs at risk.”