PM has a bet each way on protestors

After all, it is exactly 11 months ago Mr Morrison said the 50,000 March4Justice protesters who had converged on Parliament House were lucky they weren't being shot at. That march, which easily eclipsed Saturday's by at least three to one, was a remarkably peaceful affair which caused little disruption and was supported by the vast majority of Canberrans.

This was in stark contrast to the ratbag element in the anti-mandate crowd who appeared to revel in causing as much disorder and chaos as possible.

Their actions would have cost Lifeline an estimated $750,000 from what was expected to be a record breaking bookfair if generous Canberrans hadn't opened their hearts and wallets with generous donations over the weekend.

While the event may be rescheduled, and the hundreds of thousands of books finally sold a little further down the track, the recent hard work in setting up for an event local bibliophiles adore was wasted. That's also true for participants in the popular farmers' market. Hundreds of stall holders, who would have spent weeks in preparing stock - much of it perishable - are now heavily out of pocket. Who is going to compensate them?

While Mr Morrison's disdain for Canberra, and its alleged bubble, is well known and, like John Howard during his Prime Ministership, he still calls Sydney home, you would expect him to have some concern for the residents of the city in which he is a FIFO worker.

He doesn't need to rub the ACT's nose in it by saying he "understands" the concerns of the anti-vaxxers, sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists and other delusional outliers who descended on the city, and that he respects their right to protest.

Instead of condemning the mob for its unlawful behaviour the PM said participants were "speaking up for things they felt strongly about" and asked them to protest "in a peaceful and respectful way". While Mr Morrison stopped short of saying "we love you, you're very special" at least Donald Trump told the Capitol rioters last January it was time for them to leave Washington.

Anthony Albanese's call for the demonstrators to "just go home" was much more on topic.

The PM added insult to injury when, instead of defending the actions taken by states and territories on the basis of expert health advice to protect their citizens, he appeared to suggest protesters should be targeting those governments instead.

"All other mandates that relate to vaccines [apart from those for aged care, health and disability workers] have been imposed unilaterally by state governments ... they have not been put in place by the Commonwealth government ... I understand their [the protesters] concerns about these issues," he said.

Smell the leadership! The PM's habit of deflecting blame to others was on show again on Sunday night when his wife Jenny, who has now been positioned front and centre in the election campaign, apologised for what is being cast as her decision to take the family on holidays to Hawaii in 2019.

These are hardly the actions of a strong and purposeful leader.

If Mr Morrison does care about this community - in which he spends a significant amount of time - he should join the thousands of other residents who have rallied behind Lifeline with generous donations to make up the shortfall from the cancelled bookfair.

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