"I would say this to the Prime Minister today: the nation wants you to open up the cheque book and obviously help people rebuild their lives." Ms Berejiklian refused to rebuke Mr Constance for his attack on Mr Morrison. "I don't begrudge anyone who is on the ground," she told radio station 2GB late on Friday morning. "Andrew is a good friend of mine and he's just seen the sheer devastation in his community. "I know Andrew has raw emotion as do many members of his community and I don't blame people for feeling angry. The Prime Minister and myself and other leaders, we don't take it personally," Ms Berejiklian said.

"There's no doubt people are justified in feeling angry, people are justified in feeling scared. A lot of people are feeling anxious, that's normal and we have to accept these emotions. "I don't begrudge anybody for feeling the way they do. Everybody reacts to very difficult circumstances differently, we have to accept that. Our job as leaders is to get resources where they need to be." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Morrison was forced to make a quick getaway into a government car after his visit to Cobargo, where locals heckled him and refused to shake his hand. Cobargo was where father and son Robert and Patrick Salway lost their lives this week, when fire roared through the area early on Tuesday morning, torching buildings in the town's historic main street.

Mr Constance said the "only two people providing leadership in the state" were Ms Berejiklian and Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. "I know this is tough, and I know I'm on his side of politics. But, you know, [Premier] Gladys [Berejiklian] and [RFS Commissioner] Shane Fitzsimmons came here two days ago," Mr Constance said. Ms Berejiklian has worked every day of the fire crisis, visiting areas destroyed by the South Coast firestorm as well as being at RFS headquarters for regular briefings. Meanwhile, NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott and NSW Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, have been holidaying in London. Both are due to return on Friday or Saturday. Mr Constance said he would visit Cobargo later on Friday before arriving back in Malua Bay ahead of what are expected to be dire fire conditions on Saturday.

People feeling raw: Morrison Mr Morrison told ABC News he went to Cobargo to "see it for myself, to offer what comfort I could, but you can't always in every circumstances". "I'm not surprised people are feeling very raw at the moment," Mr Morrison said. "I understand the very strong feelings people have. They've lost everything and there are still some very dangerous days ahead." He acknowledged the anger of bushfire victims who rounded on him in Cobargo but said he did not take the attacks personally because it was his job to offer comfort and support.

Loading "People are angry and people are raw and people are upset," Mr Morrison said on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday morning. "Whether they are angry with me or they are angry about the situation, all I know is they are hurting and it’s my job to be there to try and offer some comfort and support. "That's my job. I don't take these things personally, why would I? "I know that people are hurting, I know that they're raw and I know what our job is and it's to work closely with the states and support them in everything they need and pre-empt their requests and ensure that our defence forces and other agencies are ready to go."

Loading Asked about Mr Constance’s remark that he had received the welcome he "deserved" in Cobargo, Mr Morrison told 3AW radio host Neil Mitchell he had not seen those. Asked if he was confident he had done everything he could, the Prime Minister said it was the federal government’s role to offer every assistance it could to the states. "But I do know people are angry and they'll often fixate on whether it’s the Prime Minister or someone else and I understand that, I understand the emotion, I understand the hurt, the anger, the frustration," he said. "And what we will do is just continue to offer use every resource and person we have to assist the situation".

Loading Mr Morrison later played down any rift between himself and Mr Constance, saying he had "reached out to him" following his comments on Channel Seven. Mr Morrison said he had known Mr Constance "for a long time" and he had been through a "terrible, terrible experience and ordeal". "Andrew, like so many in that part of NSW - his neighbour lost his own property there, and he's been defending his own property there," Mr Morrison told reporters in Bairnsdale, eastern Victoria. "He's deeply part of that community. So I can understand how Andrew would be feeling at the moment. So I've reached out to him today, and offered that apology to him [for not being in contact]."

Mr Morrison said he did not take angry interactions with community members "personally". "I just see it as a sense of frustration and hurt and loss and anger that is out there about what is the ferocity of these natural disasters." "If people want to direct that at me, that is up to them. It's not something that will distract me." Mr Morrison said he was reviewing whether to leave Australia as scheduled on January 12 for a long-scheduled official visit to India and Japan. He cut a family holiday to Hawaii short last month following the deaths of two volunteer firefighters after he was heavily criticised for leaving the country as the bushfire crisis worsened.

Ex fire chief slams Morrison Former NSW Fire and Rescue commissioner Greg Mullins said the Prime Minister failed to prepare for the fire crisis after advice from former fire chiefs earlier this year was ignored. Speaking to ABC Radio’s Josh Szep on Friday, Mr Mullins said the federal government had been put on notice for this summer’s monster fire season. "This is what 28 other former fire chiefs and I tried to warn the PM about back in April or May. We weren’t listened to." The chiefs urged the federal government to deploy the army in a "more organised" fashion and to invest in firefighting aircraft.

"All we have is seven large air tankers in Australia. [In California] they had 35 large air tankers working [the fires], plus dozens of helicopters." As well as long-term planning, the Prime Minister could be doing more while the fires were still raging, Mr Mullins said. "Our Prime Minister should be on the phone to [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau right now and saying, 'We need 20 of your purpose-built water scoopers which are mothballed during your winter.' " Mr Mullins said he’d never experienced conditions like those seen this week. "All states are starting to burn. When they burn simultaneously, we can’t share firefighters, we can’t share trucks."