Jase Hawkins demands apology from PM

Former Editor & Content Director

KIIS 101.1 Breakfast host Jase Hawkins has pleaded with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to simply apologise to the public for the current lockdown situation sweeping the country and the frustrations they are feeling.

Hawkins pushed the reluctant PM on air this morning, urging him to put aside his pride and just say “sorry”.

As Morrison doubled down and refused to say the magic words, Hawkins said he’d even compromise and take a “my bad”.

“The vaccine rollout, let’s be honest, it’s been a nightmare. I think clearly now you’d say it’s a race to get us vaccinated,” Hawkins said, before urging Morrison to admit the Government’s mistakes.

“We have this thing on the team here, right? We all get along very well, everyone works their arse off. When someone stuffs up, it’s all about accountability. Say ‘sorry’, you admit the problem, and we move on….. Can you honestly say to me that the Government’s taken accountability? Like I’ve never heard the word ‘Sorry’,” he said.

“Can you just say ‘Sorry, Jase’? It will make me feel so much better and then I can feel like I can move on,” he added.

The tense exchange saw Morrison speaking over Hawkins and co-host Polly ‘PJ’ Harding multiple times, and he insisted he had in fact taken accountability for the country’s bungled vaccine roll-out.

“Yes, the Government is accountable for this. And I am accountable for this. That’s why we take the accountability by fixing the problems and getting it right,” Morrison insisted,

Hawkins also expressed Melbourne’s frustrations in feeling like it’s in exactly the same position as it was in last year’s first round of lockdowns.

At the end of the call, Hawkins said he felt even more frustrated than before.

Once Morrison was off the air, he lamented Morrison’s lack of apology and urged him not to be a robot.

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Have some respect
21 Jul 2021 - 1:20 pm

Cringe!

Such a disrespectful, entitled display of bravado. Unsure what you were trying to achieve here (Jason) but this was not compelling, interesting or cut throat radio. It was desperate and embarassing. You’ve made yourself look even worse, didn’t think it was possible.

Love him, hate him or somewhere in between… Mr Morrison is still the PM of Australia so you could have atleast showed SOME respect and addressed him correctly. Gross.

Seriously
21 Jul 2021 - 1:59 pm

Why would the Prime Minister even bother to go on a show like this with such low ratings?

Betty
21 Jul 2021 - 2:07 pm

Nice work Jase!

Respect is earned
21 Jul 2021 - 2:08 pm

GO JASE

All too often pollies go on breakky radio to be asked softball questions about their fav guilty pleasure binge tv show.

This man has failed the entire country and deserves to held accountable.

Kiis listeners going through their 5th lockdown don’t want to hear the same 3 talking points repeated over and over. They’re sick of it. Good on you Jase.

More of this
21 Jul 2021 - 2:11 pm

Look, I thought he showed the respect Morrison has earned. We can’t forget he rolled a sitting PM, he went on a holiday while our country was burning down, he failed to secure enough vaccine for our population, then bungled the rollout.

Our media’s job is to hold our politicians to account. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a politician deviating from his talking points provided 15 minutes before he got on the call and having an honest conversation.

The issue with respect for the role of PM is, none of them respect it themselves, they have treated it like a temp role since 2010.

Joey
21 Jul 2021 - 2:16 pm

Completely disagree. To the contrary, FM breakfast radio too easily allows itself to be a public relations platform for politicians.

Don’t confuse an informal interview style with being disrespectful.
This is not Fran Kelly’s ABC (RN) breakfast show in which you expect hard-hitting questions to be delivered in a much more formal manner.

The Prime Minister spoke at great length and it took a lot of determination for Jason to find the space to push back and maintain a scrutiny of political power that need not be the reserve of talkback AM radio.

Well done to Jase & PJ for demonstrating there’s more than format of interviewing to ask the difficult questions.

Go Jase
21 Jul 2021 - 2:22 pm

Respect is earned – and Scott Morrison hasn’t done anything to earn the respect some commenters are calling for.

Jase did the right thing and tried to hold him to account. Go Jase! Most underrated show on radio.

James
21 Jul 2021 - 3:00 pm

That is the best radio interview I have heard in a long time – Absolutely nailed what the demo listening to Kiis is thinking and feeling right now…

Last night I was speaking with my partner saying the exact same things Jase was saying and wishing that someone would ask those questions.

Great interview Jase, you can hold your head high.

Observation
21 Jul 2021 - 4:24 pm

Jase Hawkins needs to do something like this to try to get a headline because his ratings have been poor

Scomo Sux
21 Jul 2021 - 4:38 pm

Love your work Jase, classic to see Scomo still avoiding the blame and accountability.

Mick C
21 Jul 2021 - 5:50 pm

Who the F do you think you ( Jase) begging the PM for an apology?

Nothing like trying to increase your pathetic ratings.

Su
21 Jul 2021 - 6:51 pm

A disgusting way of speaking to our Prime Minister today…. Why does S.O.R.R.Y. mean so much to him.. Did Comrade Dan say he was sorry that over 800 people died on his wonderful watch.. NO. He just blamed everyone else. Our Prime Minister has not blamed others..He said things were unforeseen.. So good to have a crystal ball and know how all will happen as it has. Who knew we would end up in lockdown when all was going so well here in NSW.. .
Maybe this Jase should seek the man who spread the Delta Variance and get him to say S.O.R.R.Y. That would be better to hear…

A Missed Opportunity By Morrison
21 Jul 2021 - 7:50 pm

Oh please!

“Have some respect”?!

Frankly, he got the respect he deserves.

Scott Morrison wants us all to believe he’s “one of us” and goes out of his way to put that image forward. He’s a PR man – it’s all about the image – he’s the “daggy dad” building a chook pen from Bunnings on the weekend.

Yeah, sure he is.

What’s the issue being casual and calling him “Scott”? It’s his name. It’s not the BBC.

As a Marketing Man you think he’d recognise an obvious opportunity to turn a negative into a positive, but instead the opportunity was lost in a flurry of political spin, denial & blame shifting.

Morrison takes responsibility when things go right, but when things go awry – it’s invariably someone else’s fault.

It’s Labor’s fault, it’s ATAGI’s fault, he “doesn’t hold a hose”, it’s Dan Andrew’s, Mark McGowan’s fault, it’s Pfizer’s fault…

Great to hear someone actually trying to hold him to account – even in a fun way, he just couldn’t say it.

He’s never said it – once.

We’ve had “Sports Rorts” and more recently the appalling “Carpark Rorts” pork-barrelling scandal, on top of the fiasco of the Vaccine roll out and quarantine disasters. Remember this was the leader so tone-deaf that he went on a holiday to Hawaii while the country he leads was being burnt to a crisp and people were dying.

He deserves to be held to account.

The only “desperate and embarrassing” part of the interview was a grown man who is supposedly a “leader” unable and to say “sorry” on behalf of his Government for a litany of stuff-ups and rorts.

Any scrutiny on Morrison is treated by him as a political problem as opposed to a chance to own-up, take responsibility and turn a negative into a positive – a chance to show he’s human, makes mistakes and regain some respect.

This is not a Libs Vs Labor thing – I’ve voted for both sides.

I, like many Australians I speak to are FED UP with this guy taking us for mugs.

Well done Jase & PJ – you gave Scott Morrison – what he didn’t or couldn’t say, says so much more than what he did.

Yes Serious
21 Jul 2021 - 11:07 pm

@Seriously, you must not have read the article properly. Jase and PJ are on KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne, not 2DAY.

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