Australian PM brushes aside criticism for Father’s Day trip to Sydney amid lockdown

Terming the criticism he has been receiving for travelling between Canberra and Sydney over the Father’s Day weekend despite COVID-19 lockdownas a “cheap shot", Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended himself, saying that the health authorities exempted him since he is an “essential worker”.

Morrison said the criticism of his travel arrangements had been misguided, pointing out there were no restrictions stopping his return home to Sydney.

"I can understand people's frustration. But I do think there has been a lot of misinformation," Morrison told Sky News.

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"I live in Sydney. I often have to be here (in Canberra) for work. There was no exemption required for me to return home."

However, critics alleged that the Australian PM’s action reeks of “double standards”, as millions of other residents had to live under lockdown due to Delta variant outbreaks in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne., with many state borders closed.

Labor opposition Bill Shorten accused Morrison of showing “appalling judgement”.

“It’s not that he doesn't deserve to see his kids, but so does every other Australian. And I think when your people are doing it tough, you've got to do it tough too,” he said

“You can't have one rule for Morrison and another rule for everyone else,” he added.

The latest row comes as Australia reported 1,485 fresh local cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, increasing the overall infection tally to 63,154, while the death toll stood at 1,044.

Of the new cases, 1,220 were from New South Wales (NSW), the epicentre of the current outbreak, where the state health department also recorded eight deaths on Tuesday morning.

“There have been 139 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since June 16, 2021," said the statement from the NSW Health.

Victoria, the second-most populous state, reported a further 246 new local cases.

(With inputs from agencies)