The Prime Minister has acknowledged his infamous justification "I don't hold a hose, mate" for taking a holiday while fires burned across large parts of Australia "wasn't helpful," as he continues to lean into a late attempt to recast his character ahead of Saturday's poll.
The end of the second-last week of the election campaign saw Scott Morrison declare "Australians know I can be a bit of a bulldozer" in a major rebrand promising to change his style of leadership if he remains in power.
Appearing on Channel Nine's A Current Affair, Mr Morrison was grilled over the comments by host Tracy Grimshaw, who kicked off the interview with: "How long have you known that you are a bulldozer?"
"I've been like that for some time," he replied.
He was then asked if he regretted saying "I don't hold a hose, mate" after taking a holiday in 2019 while the Black Summer bushfires raged across the country — a question which prompted a rare concession from Mr Morrison.
The Prime Minister continued with his attempt to reforge his character, acknowledging he could have been "more sensitive at times" when asked what he would have done differently had he known his popularity was waning.
Grimshaw then moved on to Mr Morrison's declaration at the Liberal Party launch on Sunday that he "saved" the country.
"You don't hold a hose, you weren't in your tinnie plucking people off rooftops, you weren't doing 16-hour days in PPE on COVID wards, you didn't get enough vaccines soon enough, you didn't get enough RATs so that we could finally have a holiday interstate for Christmas, and China is set up, based in the Solomons," she said.
"Do you think maybe you slightly over-egged the part about saving the country?"
The Prime Minister responded: "Well, that's quite a long list you've been able to pull together," before saying Australia had fared better during the pandemic than almost any other country in the world.
With just a few days until Australians head to the polls, both leaders are entering a frenetic final round of campaigning to win over undecided voters.
Mr Morrison will begin Wednesday morning in Melbourne, where the Liberals are particularly worried about challenges from the so-called "teal candidates" in the electorates of Kooyong and Goldstein.
Meanwhile, Labor leader Anthony Albanese will be in Canberra to front the National Press Club, just one hour after crucial economic data is released.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics update on the wage price index is expected to show wages trailing the cost of living, playing to Labor's central argument that workers' pay is going backwards.
