On Tuesday, September 11, Scott Morrison tweeted a video of two New South Wales farmers giving “another perspective” on the drought, with one farmer saying he believed drought can be a “necessary evil” to cut out the bottom 10 per cent of farmers.

Morrison tweeted the video, which he officially authorised, under the caption “another perspective on the drought: Feedlot operators from North West NSW, Michael in Bellata and Sandy from near Moree, explain what the drought means for them.”

Shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon said in parliament on Wednesday that former Coalition leaders Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott would not have promoted that kind of sentiment, ABC reported.

“Why is it that at the same time Australians are making an extraordinary effort to help our farmers in drought, the Prime Minister is promoting material that dismisses those farmers hurting most?” Fitzgibbon said.

ABC reported Morrison did not recall the comment at first, but after reviewing the tweet, defended himself by saying he would not censor the views of people he had spoken with.

“The way our Government is responding to the drought is to go out there and listen to what people in rural and regional communities are saying to us,” he said. Credit: Scott Morrison via Storyful