(UTV | AUSTRALIA) – Australian cricket great Michael Slater has unloaded on the Australian government’s block on citizens returning home from India and now Scott Morrison has responded.
In an incendiary social media post, Slater declared the government has “blood on your hands” by turning its back on Australians overseas.
Slater was in India for commentary duties for the Indian Premier League, before trying to get home when the country was struck by a devastating wave of COVID-19 – only to face the prospect of five years in prison after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a shocking lockout of Australians seeking to return from the struggling country.
If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It’s a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) May 3, 2021
According to The Australian, Slater tried to escape home for a week before eventually jetting to the Maldives in recent days, where he waits for the Australian government to allow him to return home. Currently, that will not be until May 15 – though there is no guarantee Prime Minister Morrison will not extend the lockout of those who have been in India.
He tweeted: “If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It’s a disgrace!!
“Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system.
“I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect”.
After receiving a tirade of comments that he was motivated only by money, he responded again.
And for those who think this is a money exercise. Well forget it. This is what I do for a living and I have not made a penny having left early. So please stop the abuse and think of the thousands dying in India each day. It’s called empathy. If only our government had some!
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) May 3, 2021
“And for those who think this is a money exercise. Well forget it. This is what I do for a living and I have not made a penny having left early.
“So please stop the abuse and think of the thousands dying in India each day. It’s called empathy. If only our government had some!”
Morrison was asked on the Today Show on Tuesday if he had blood on his hands, to which he responded: “No that is obviously absurd.”
“We have a temporary pause in place because we have seen a rapid escalation in the infection rate of people who have travelled out of India that is putting enormous pressure on our system and we need to ensure we can bring people safely home from India,” he added.
“It’s a pause to May 15. We’re reviewing it regularly.”
It comes as India recorded the worst day since the pandemic began – some 3,417 deaths in the past 24 hours. The IPL’s bio-secure bubble was also punctured, with two Kolkata Knight Riders players testing positive for COVID-19 and forcing the postponement of a Monday night match.
Two Chennai Super Kings staff members as well as a bus driver also tested positive Sunday before later testing negative, while five ground staff reportedly also tested positive.