Finally, after five and a half weeks of incredibly dull electioneering, Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday delivered the campaign moment we all needed — no, deserved — when, just days after referring to himself as a “bit of a bulldozer”, he crash-tackled a young boy into the ground during a game of soccer in Tasmania.
The seven-year-old boy, who plays under-eights in the Devonport City Soccer Club, was unharmed. And look, as far as tackles go, Morrison did a pretty solid job of protecting him, as the endless hours of footage I’ve watched on social media will show (arm behind the back, twist to take most of the fall, etc etc). But what wasn’t fine was the Australian internet. It went off like, well, like a PM at an under-eights soccer training session!
First off, the moment was instantly memefied, with the Greens coming in hot…
… and the Young Libs proving that while they may get the benefits of intergenerational wealth, they sure as hell don’t get memes.
Then came the lists of all the things Morrison won’t tackle:
And plenty of takes on how, sure, it was an accident, but it still shows a very icky side of Morrison that kinda makes people’s skin crawl:
Next up we got the theories: that Morrison tackled a small child to distract Australia from Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s address to the National Press Club. That would’ve been a weird strategy meeting.
The headlines followed pretty quickly. And props to every publication that got “bulldozer” into the headline, but the winner goes to Gizmodo for this one: Australia’s Weirdo Prime Minister Tackles Child to the Ground, Birthing New Meme.
But the coverage didn’t stop there — and now we get to the truly icky party of the situation. Acting Minister for Education Stuart Robert (a man who has a few things to tackle as well) fronted up on Radio National this morning and was asked about the tackle. His response perfectly encapsulated the Coalition’s attitude to blame-shifting, as he described the event as “an error by both of them”.
Yes, according to the man in charge of education in this country, the seven-year-old was equally to blame for being tackled to the ground by a full-grown man during a casual training session in a non-contact sport. Righto.
But all ick and reactions aside, the whole saga really does bring up one very important question for the opposition leader: if Albanese can’t tackle a small child, how will he tackle China!?
Stop it, Imogen. Labor are so hellbent on matching and bettering the Coalition on everything they’ll make Albanese crash tackle a 7 month old baby to show how fierce he is.
Did Morrison have a Working With Children Check as legally required before coming into any contact with children?
It was just a silly accident, but one that should never occurred.
We have a Prime Minister as a Leader of a Government, entrusted with the job of looking after Services to assist the Population and Country, not as a “would be” Truck Driver, Forklift Driver, Factory worker, Welder, soccer player, etc.
His photo Op stunts are just silly, and are prone to going wrong. He is not setting any good examples by doing these things.
I thought he tripped rather than deliberately tackled. An even better visual metaphor. He always trips himself up eventually…. clumsiness and trying to tapdance his way out of a problem of his own making.
“if Albanese can’t tackle a small child, how will he tackle China!?”
This was the first thing that came to mind for me. If Albo wouldn’t have tackled the child, then doesn’t it show weakness on his part? ScoMo is showing that he’s willing to take on the opposition, no matter how small and defenceless – crucial for dealing with our Pacific neighbours.
Since parents aren’t allowed on the field at children’s sport, how come Morrison can barge on the field like an out of control
stumble footed mammoth.
He should definitely got a red card. Also he is a Rugby Union footballer, not a Rugby League although he pretends to be; and he is definitely not a soccer player..
His actions on the field duplicate his efforts as a Politician.
Very lucky the under 8 boy wasn’t damaged or forced to go to hospital.