A resurfaced tweet from a local Liberal candidate has come back to haunt the Prime Minister on the hustings.
The August 2015 post from Corangamite candidate Stephanie Asher criticised Scott Morrison – who was the social services minister at the time – for describing women as a “minority”.
“Just heard Scott Morrison describe women as a minority group. Lol,” she wrote.
“Please tell these guys women are 50% of world pop. Australia ldrship. Wow.”
She later told followers she was responding to an interview with Mr Morrison on ABC’s AM where he was asked about the additional one-off humanitarian intake of 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
“Those who have been waiting in Lebanon and in Turkey and in Jordan and we’d be providing an opportunity for those, particularly prioritising the minority groups – persecuted minority groups, women, children, families, that’s what those 12,000 places are for,” he said at the time.
Mr Morrison shrugged off Ms Asher‘s tweet when he was asked about it on Friday.
“I have not seen that (post) but what I do know is more than 50 per cent of the board appointments we‘ve made to government boards are women now,” he responded.
He added the Coalition had “stepped up well beyond any of our critics” when it came to women.
Ms Asher, who ran as an independent in the 2013 election in the seat of Corio, also criticised the man Mr Morrison replaced on treasury benches, Joe Hockey.
“It's easier to listen and not look. Learn to smile and not be aggro Joe Hockey. Being fiercely right isn’t the only way to behave,” she wrote.
Ms Asher’s tweet was the second round of friendly fire Mr Morrison was subjected to on Friday.
In an interview with The Age, backbench MP Katie Allen conceded Mr Morrison wasn’t popular with voters in her electorate in Melbourne’s Liberal heartland.
“They’re not so happy with Scott, there’s no doubt about that,” Dr Allen said.
Higgins, a seat formerly held by Liberal treasurer Peter Costello and prime ministers Harold Holt and John Gorton, has never fallen to Labor.
However, the xjmtzywopposition believes it is still within its grasp come May and is hoping Mr Morrison’s apparent unpopularity will come into play.
Asked if he was concerned his unpopularity could have major ramifications come the election, Mr Morrison was unfazed.
“I don’t know if that goes quite across Victoria, across Melbourne at all,” he told 3AW.
“I accept that not every decision that I’ve taken over the last three years is met with everybody’s agreement.”
But he added at least voters knew him: “No one knows who Anthony Albanese is.”
