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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'. 

But despite their disagreements, a source said the meeting was amicable. 'They caught up, it was cordial, as you would expect for a state leader and a Prime Minister, and the occasion,' the source said. 

Awkward! Scott Morrison and Daniel Andrews sat together at a Remembrance Day service after publicly criticising each other over the past 18 months

Mr Morrison and Mr Andrews greeted each other at Melbourne 's Shrine of Remembrance before sitting together

The pair were pictured sitting in front of two men wearing shades who appeared to be their close protection officers

Prime Minister Scott Morrison shakes hands with Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews during the Remembrance Day service

At one point during the service to remember Australia's war dead, Mr Morrison leaned in to Mr Andrews as they exchanged words

Despite publicly criticising each other during the course of the Covid pandemic, the pair appeared to get on well at the service

Mr Morrison and Mr Andrews both wore navy blue suits for the occasion to commemorate the end of the First World War and honour fallen soldiers

The two leaders were sitting in the front row for the service which took place in Melbourne on Thursday morning

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. 

At times during the service at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance both men sat with their legs crossed and their hands clasped

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

Mr Morrison has sought to play down tensions between the pair, telling 3AW radio: 'We get on just fine.' 

He 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.

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 

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.

Premier Andrews imposed some of the toughest restrictions across the globe including a one-hour-a-day exercise limit, a 5km movement restriction and an 8pm curfew. 

Mr Morrison also mingled with Victorian Liberal Leader Matthew Guy (centre) and his deputy David Southwick (right) as well as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (left)

Earlier on Thursday morning Mr Morrison served members breakfast during a visit to Doncaster RSL in Melbourne

In a message to struggling small businesses, he said: 'You're the ones who've managed the heartache, complexity and frustration of extreme lockdowns and restrictions and staying Covid safe.

'And you are the ones who are now opening your doors again.'

'I also want to thank the people of Victoria,' he added.

'You have had to endure what no-one else in this country has had to endure.'

The Prime Minister said his national re-opening plan, which progressively removes restrictions once vaccination thresholds are met, allows Australia to avoid future lockdowns as long as premiers abide by it.  

'The human face of reopening, recovery and renewal is everywhere to see,' he said.

'You see it in the smiles on the faces of small business people, as they pull up the shutters in the morning on their deli, their newsagent or their coffee shop.

'You see it in the hugs at airports, as families reunite across geographies and across generations.

'And you see it in the simplest of pleasures. Friends catching up. Having a beer. Going to restaurants. Strolling around the shops.'

Melbourne was heavily policed during its lengthy lockdowns. Pictured: Police make arrests at a protest in the city in October 2021

And in a stark sentence that appeared to blame premiers for taking away Australians' freedoms - even though he prevented them from leaving their own country for 18 months - he added: 'The taste of freedom. It must never be taken from us again.'

'That is why I put the national plan together. A plan based on the best possible medical science and economics to ensure we open safely and stay safely open.

'Australians have kept their side of this deal by getting vaccinated.

'Governments must now keep theirs and return to Australians their freedoms.' 

It comes after Mr Morrison criticised Western Australia premier Mark McGowan who has vowed to keep his state border closed until 90 per cent of over 12s are fully vaccinated, expected in late January or early February.

The Prime Minister is furious the rouge Labor leader is not adhering to the National Plan which calls for states to do away with border closures once the jab rate hits 80 per cent.   

'The modelling done by the Doherty Institute makes it very clear, and that was what was agreed in the National Plan, not just once but twice, and that is once you reach 80 per cent vaccination rates, then you're able to move forward,' Mr Morrison said on Monday.

'The advice we have from the Secretary of Treasury from Dr Kennedy is once you go over 80 per cent and you keep things locked down, you are doing more harm than good to your economy. 

'You are actually putting a price on Australians, when you continue to put heavy restrictions on your economy, once you get 80 per cent vaccination rates.'

What are the four phases of opening up? 

A. Vaccinate, prepare and pilot (from July 14)

Arrival caps cut in half to 3,035 a week; early, stringent and short lockdowns if outbreaks occur; trials of seven-day home quarantine for vaccinated arrivals in South Australia; medicare vaccination certificates available on apps like apple wallet   

B. Post vaccination phase (when 70 per cent are jabbed, expected late this year)

Lockdowns less likely but possible'; vaccinated people face reduced restrictions; caps for unvaccinated arrivals increased; a larger cap for vaccinated arrivals with 'reduced quarantine requirements'; capped entry for students and economic visa holders  

C. Consolidation phase (when 80 per cent are jabbed, time not announced)

Lifting all restrictions for outbound travel for vaccinated travellers; no caps for vaccinated arrivals; increased caps for students and visa holders; more travel bubbles being set up with countries such as Singapore; booster shots rolled out 

D. Final phase (percentage or time not announced)

Uncapped arrivals for vaccinated people without any quarantine and uncapped arrivals for unvaccinated people with testing before departure and on arrival 

 

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