The Prime Minister was criticised

yet again the other day for saying that he and his wife had been "blessed" with two healthy girls. He said this in response to the mother of a child with autism. The mother was questioning how the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was being handled, questioning it not in relation to her own son but in general. 

The PM made the "blessed" comment and went on to say that did not have first hand experience of the problems parents of children with disabilities face. He then added that he could "only try and understand (their) aspirations" for their children.

The comments caused outrage among the woke brigade, among many of the "advocates" for people with disabilities, and then in the wider community. They considered, still consider, the statement to be a hanging offence.

Why? I am a person with a disability. I have worked with the parents of many children with profound disabilities, both intellectual and physical and combined.  I don't know one parent who would not prefer their child was "normal" - in the range of abilities we consider normal. I most certainly don't know any parent who actually wanted a child with a disability. 

The Prime Minister was trying to express an obviously deeply felt personal belief that he and his wife are fortunate to have two healthy children who are able to learn. I am certain his remarks were intended to convey that feeling of guilt that so many people feel when they are so much better off than the person to whom they are talking. He was not boasting about how much better he was - just the opposite.

But this is an election campaign and, for the last three years, there has been a contingent in social media and mainstream media which has been determined to criticise the PM at every possible moment. Yes, there are others who have come under a constant barrage of critical remarks too but criticism of the PM has been extreme. Has it been warranted? 

That is surely the question we should be asking ourselves. Would anyone guilty of all the "mistakes" and negative comments made about him have survived an entire term in parliament? I know a number of people who have worked with him. They come directly from both sides of the political divide. Some of them are MPs or Senators, others are people who work with him and his close partners on an everyday basis. None of them has criticised him the way he is criticised in the media. No, their despair is more likely to be at how hard he actually works and how hard he expects them to work. 

"There's never any let up Cat. Once he's on to something he wants it done - and done yesterday if possible. He's very, very demanding."

At the same time when someone I know extremely suffered a personal tragedy he was on the phone first. Then he took the person in question off for a quiet lunch to see what help they might need with their work while they dealt with their personal problems. Twice in the past month, despite preparing and then starting the election campaign, he has gone out of his way to make sure this person is coping. He's not "smirking" as some of his detractors would have us believe. He apparently really does try to live by his Christian principles.

The woke brigade and many in the media may feel it is fun to hit someone who really has no way of answering back to such comments but is it right? Perhaps it is time to look at what the PM is really like - and what some of our other representatives are also really like.