Scott Morrison has hit back at accusations of hypocrisy from angry Australians after an image of him standing outside an English pub sparked outrage.
The Jamaica Inn hotel, in Cornwall, posted a social media image of the Australian Prime Minister visiting their drinking hole for a weekend lunch, during the three-day G7 summit at Carbis Bay, a one-hour drive away.
'Pleasure to have the Australian Prime Minister and his 20-plus personal team for lunch this weekend,' it said on Facebook.
'You never know what you might find at Jamaica Inn!'
The Launceston village hotel's Facebook page was inundated with messages protesting against Australia's ban on citizens travelling overseas or foreigners visiting Australia to see family and friends.
Mr Morrison on Monday morning said the pub was one of several places in the UK he visited during his trip and called the photo opportunity 'pretty innocent'.
'I think it was pretty innocent and I think that’s massively overstating it,' he said.
An image of Scott Morrison standing outside an English pub has sparked angry accusations of hypocrisy as Australians face yet another year of overseas travel bans
The Jamaica Inn hotel, in Cornwall, posted a social media image of the Australian Prime Minister visiting their drinking hole for a weekend lunch, during the three-day G7 summit at Carbis Bay, a one-hour drive away
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Mr Morrison's visit to England last Tuesday, Australian time, yielded a free-trade deal with the UK, following the June 11 to 13 summit.
The G7 also condemned China's human rights abuses and called for a fresh inquiry into the origins of Covid, demonstrating the US, UK and the Europe Union could be united in the face of a more aggressive Communist superpower.
Mr Morrison was accompanied by personal advisers, public servants from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with Australian High Commission staff, based in London, during his pub visit on Sunday, Australian time.
His office also confirmed an official photographer and a press secretary were part of the entourage to the UK.
Mr Morrison's entourage of 20 staff was significantly smaller than US President Joe Biden's 1,100 personnel.
'The Prime Minister is travelling with seven personal staff including his senior national security and international policy adviser, his senior defence adviser, a senior media adviser and photographer to manage travelling media and local media engagements, his executive officer and his director of programme and advancer,' a spokeswoman for the PM told Daily Mail Australia.
The Jamaica Inn hotel, in the Cornwall county village of Launceston, posted a social media image of the Australian Prime Minister visiting their drinking hole following the three-day G7 summit at Carbis Bay, a one-hour drive away
The Launceston village hotel's Facebook page has been inundated with messages protesting against Australia's ban on citizens travelling overseas or foreigners visiting Australia to see family and friends
With the Australian government expecting to keep the travel ban in place until at least mid-2022, Melbourne engineer Kim Bernadette suggested Mr Morrison could have joined the G7 by Zoom like his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, whose country has recently battled a deadly Covid second wave.
'He could have participated as a guest via zoom, as the Indian PM did,' she tweeted.
'Double standards when Australians can't leave the country.
'It's tone deaf for Scott Morrison to be in the UK with an entourage of 20.
'Australia isn't a member of the G7.'
Mr Morrison's spokeswoman said meeting world leaders in person was better than over Zoom.
'The G7 and meetings in Singapore, the UK and France are a unique opportunity for the Prime Minister to ensure Australia is at the table with the world's largest democracies for vitally important security, health and economic talks,' she said.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson invited Australia, India and South Korea to the June 11 to 13 G7 summit, even though they are not permanent members of the Group of Seven nations. Mr Johnson is pictured centre with his wife Carrie and Australian PM Scott Morrison at the G7 summit
With the PM and not ordinary people allowed to travel to and from Australia, an English grandmother lamented at how she was yet to meet her two-month old granddaughter in Victoria.
'We last hugged our daughter who lives outside Melbourne in August 2019,' she said.
'We now have a grand daughter born April this year. When will we get to meet her?
'How old will she be?'
A Facebook group, UK Mums in Australia, protested about the ban on permanent residents leaving Australia for social visits unrelated to work.
'I cannot begin to tell you how rage-inducing this happy snap is for our community and for everyone stuck here in Australia with family in the UK,' it said.
'The double standard of it all is astounding. Parents according to Scott Morrison (ScoMo) are not considered immediate family in Australia.
With the Australian government expecting to keep the travel ban in place until at least mid-2022, Melbourne engineer Kim Bernadette suggested Mr Morrison could have joined in by Zoom like his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, whose country has recently battled a deadly Covid second wave
'We are separated from partners, children, parents and grandparents with no road map
