Scott Morrison and Daniel Andrews awkwardly sat together in solidarity at a Remembrance Day service after publicly criticising each other over the past 18 months.
The Prime Minister and Victoria Premier greeted each other at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance before sitting together for the service to honour Australia's fallen soldiers.
The encounter came just a day after Mr Morrison blasted Mr Andrews' Covid-19 lockdowns as 'extreme' and declared freedom 'must never be taken from us again'.
Awkward! Scott Morrison and Daniel Andrews sat together at a Remembrance Day service after publicly criticising each other over the past 18 months
The two leaders put on a united front for the cameras, smiling and walking to the service side by side despite their public disagreements
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (second left) and Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews (left) arrive ahead of the Remembrance Day service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on November 11
The encounter came just a day after Mr Morrison blasted Mr Andrews' Covid-19 lockdowns as 'extreme' and declared freedom 'must never be taken from us again'. Pictured: The pair walk towards the service
Mr Morrison has sought to play down tensions between the pair, previously telling 3AW radio: 'We get on just fine'. Pictured: The pair arrive for the service
The Remembrance service was briefly disrupted by a protester who had to be detained by several police officers. It's not clear what he was protesting about
The pair have clashed throughout the pandemic over restrictions and the vaccination programme.
In September Mr Andrews slammed the Prime Minister for not ordering more vaccines in 2020, saying: 'Maybe if they'd been ordered last year, they'd be in arms already.'
He also called Mr Morrison 'the Prime Minster for New South Wales' after the state was given extra financial support during its lockdown in July.
'Victorians are rightly sick and tired of having to beg for every scrap of support from the federal government,' he said in a furious statement.
Mr Morrison has sought to play down tensions between the pair, telling 3AW radio: 'We get on just fine.'
The Victoria Premier called Mr Morrison (pictured together on Thursday) 'the Prime Minster for New South Wales' after the state was given extra financial support during its lockdown in July
In September Mr Andrews slammed the Prime Minister (pictured together at the Remembrance Service) for not ordering more vaccines in 2020, saying: 'Maybe if they'd been ordered last year, they'd be in arms already'
Mr Morrison laid a wreath at the shrine as he attended the service to honour Australia's fallen soldiers on Remembrance Day
The Prime Minister wore a large red poppy underneath his customary Australia flag badge as he place his wreath during the service
The Royal Australian Navy guard are seen during the Remembrance Day 2021 Service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne
One man flew the Australian flag as tradies in high-vis clothing watched the service at the Shine of Remembrance
Mr Morrison has largely left it to senior ministers including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to attack Mr Andrews over his stringent lockdowns.
But in October 2020, at the end of Victoria's four-month lockdown, he criticised Mr Andrews for not opening up faster.
He described the slow re-opening as a 'profound disappointment' and said: 'At some point, you have to move forward and put your public health systems to work in a bid to reclaim the jobs that have been lost.'
On Wednesday Mr Morrison attacked harder than ever before, branding Victoria's Covid policies as 'extreme'.
Five million Melbourne residents were last month released from the longest cumulative lockdown in the world, having been confined to their homes for 262 days, or nearly nine months, since March 2020.
