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How I wish you were here.
This was the sentiment expressed by many Australians in December as our Prime Minister Scott Morrison holidayed in Hawaii while vast swathes of the country were consumed by flames.
The ravaged landscape left behind is littered with blackened trees and the carcasses of animals. One billion dead animals by some estimates. Thousands have lost their homes and scores have died.
While the fires continue to rage, the debate over climate change rages too, but not in the corridors of power. Here it’s business as usual as spin doctors attempt to come up with a message to convey the impression the government is listening to people’s increasingly desperate concerns, while committing to doing nothing at all.
Morrison made the government’s stance very clear recently when he told Sky News that ‘hazard reduction’ is the key to managing climate change-induced infernos:
‘Hazard reduction is as important as emissions reduction. Many would argue even more so, because it has a direct practical impact on the safety of a person going into a bushfire season.’
This is wilful, brazen stupidity at its finest. Anyone labouring under the illusion this government can be pressured into taking action over climate change should be psychologically…
