Liberal candidate hits out over bushfires in tense interview

Andrew Constance has traded barbs with a radio host during a tense interview over past bushfire comments.

Liberal candidate Andrew Constance has defended his run for the federal seat of Gilmore in a tense interview.

The former NSW Minister spent Monday campaigning alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the south coast seat.

Mr Constance was vocally critical of the Prime Minister during the 2019-20 bushfires, saying he got “the welcome he deserved” during an awkward trip to Cobargo in January 2020.

However on Monday, Mr Constance strongly rejected accusations his platform of supporting fire victims was incompatible with the Liberal Party’s track record on climate change.

Speaking to Andy Park on ABC’s Radio National, Mr Constance traded barbs with the presenter, who asked why he was running for the party with the softer emissions reduction target.

Mr Constance campaigned alongside the Prime Minister on Monday. Picture: Jason Edwards

“Are you now asking constituents to forget the forced handshakes, to wallpaper over their anger and just vote for you anyway?” Park asked.

Mr Constance called the question “wrong and offensive”, declaring his focus remained helping the community and fire victims to recover.

“The community is in enormous trauma. I’ve worked every day for the best part of two years and three months since that fire event. I’m still working to support fire victims right now,” he said.

“When people are exhausted they don’t need a gob full of politics, they just need a positive campaign and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Mr Park then told the election-hopeful he couldn’t have it both ways, to which Mr Constance replied, “Why not?”

“I’m fiercely an advocate for the region I love. We were put through hell with firestorms. I wasn’t afraid of standing up for the community to government,” he said.

“That’s not having it both ways, that’s doing what you should do.”

The Liberal candidate had formerly expressed discontent with Scott Morrison’s response to the 2019-20 bushfires. Picture: Jason Edwards

The Liberal Party is aiming to beat its Paris Agreement target of reducing emissions by 26 – 28 per cent on 2005 levels by the end of the decade, while Labor announced an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent during the same period.

Mr Constance said “business” will smash the Liberal Party’s target.

He added he wouldn’t abandon his ideology of “liberalism”.

“My natural inclination is to make sure that business and government are aligned in their thinking,” Mr Constance said.

“The Morrison Government’s investing a billion dollars into hydrogen. I don’t see that reported by the media.”

Originally published as Liberal candidate hits out over bushfires in tense interview