Scott Morrison dismisses Greta Thunberg’s call to take action on climate change over bushfires

Scott Morrison dismisses the teen Swede’s call for the Australian government to take more action on climate change.

Scott Morrison and Water Minister David Littleproud speak to reporters. Picture: Jane Dempster.

Scott Morrison has dismissed Greta Thunberg’s call for Australia to take more action on climate change, declaring he was “not here to impress people overseas”.

The Prime Minister said he would keep his focus on voters rather than the 16-year-old climate activist, who lashed the Morrison government for failing to take sufficient action on emissions in the wake of the bushfire crisis.

“Australia and the Australian government will set our policies based on Australia’s national interests, on what Australia needs to do. That’s where I keep my focus,” Mr Morrison said.

“It’s not for me to make commentaries on what those outside of Australia think that Australia should do. We’ll do in Australia what we think is right for Australia. And that has always been my guiding principle.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Picture: AFP

“I’m not here to try to impress people overseas. I’m here to do the right job for Australians and put them first.”

Yesterday, Ms Thunberg tweeted a news report of the NSW bushfires and declared: “Not even catastrophes like these seem to bring any political action. How is this possible?”

“Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the (Australian fires). That’s what has to change. Now.”

Not even catastrophes like these seem to bring any political action. How is this possible?
Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #AustraliaFires
That's what has to change.
Now. https://t.co/DQcZViKJQz

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 22, 2019

Barnaby Joyce also lashed out at Ms Thunberg, declaring he did not want to hear from “a screeching Scandinavian teenager” about how to deal with the fires in NSW.

The former deputy prime minister said the teenage activist should “stick to screaming at your school mates and your teachers” in her homeland rather than lecture Australians.

“I don’t want to hear from screeching Scandinavians telling me how to deal with bushfires in northern NSW; a screeching Scandinavian teenager is proselytising to northern NSW,” Mr Joyce told The Australian.

“She has probably never even set foot here. It is like me giving the iceberg report to the fields of Norway. I mean it is ridiculous.

“If she thinks that looking disturbed and screaming down the barrel is the way she is going to fix the climate well good luck to you. But if you just stay wherever the hell you are from that would make me feel a lot better.”

Mr Joyce said climate change and drought were caused by a range of factors.

“Of course the climate is changing. But my argument is, if you can get 76 out of 151 people in Canberra to vote and it will actually change back, well let’s go back to parliament now because I want it to rain,” Mr Joyce said.

“This drought is caused by a range of factors. It is caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole, it is caused by El Nino, it is caused by the fluctuation of solar activity, it is caused by carbon dioxide emissions. It is caused by a whole range of things.

“One of them we have a tiny bit of affect and the rest we have no effect whatsoever.”

Earlier, Mr Morrison flagged a push to overhaul the management of fuel loads in national parks as well as the rules around land and native vegetation clearing as he warned the fires would rage on after the Christmas period.

In a media blitz this morning, the Prime Minister stood firm against ramping up Australia’s climate change commitments after meeting with NSW fire crews and opening the door for compensation for volunteers fighting the nearly 200 blazes across the nation.

Speaking on 2GB, Mr Morrison said that action was “absolutely” needed to better address “how fuel loads are managed in national parks” and said a greater focus should be placed on the “rules that sit around clearing trees” close to properties.

He warned that some people had been “quite difficult” in preventing progress in these areas but agreed it was necessary to change the existing rules.

Mr Morrison praised the efforts of firefighters and said he had embraced the wife and fiancee of the two firefighters in NSW — Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton — who were tragically killed after they were hit by a falling tree in their fire truck.

“I embraced them as anyone would,” he said. “Hopefully, that provided some comfort but they are obviously in terrible shock, terrible grief.”

“If the truck had gone through half a minute earlier or later, then things may have been different.”

Mr Morrison said that Australia always relied on volunteer forces in times of trouble and compared the efforts of fire fighters to surf life savers patrolling the nation’s beaches over summer.

He said his government would not “make any knee jerk responses” to the disaster and warned against changing Australia’s climate change policies, arguing this action alone would not help to cool the planet and instead “make the livelihoods of Australians more challenging.”

Speaking on the Today program on the Nine network, he said that Australia’s emissions are “50 million tonnes on average lower every year under our government than the previous government.”

“Australia is taking action on climate change. What we won’t do is engage in reckless and job-destroying and economy crunching targets which are being sought to be postured to us at the moment, taking advantage of national disasters.”

Pressed on his decision to holiday in Hawaii at the height of the bushfire season, Mr Morrison said: “I was very clear about my regrets and the apologies I made yesterday.”

“I also thank the many Australians for their messages of support at the same time and including those I was with yesterday. They understand what the focus needs to be and that is on what’s happening on the firegrounds,” he said.

Speaking on the Sunrise program, Mr Morrison also pushed back at some of the coverage of his holiday and why his office did not public his decision to go on holiday in a more transparent manner. “I think that this is an issue the media’s got very excited about and my political opponents are seeking to exploit,” he said.

“I followed the same process I had on previous occasions and no journalist raised any issues on that on the last two occasions over the last year and half, so I said yesterday if we can improve that for next time, then fine.”

Anthony Albanese said the Prime Minister needed to expedite a planned meeting with state and federal leaders to discuss bushfire strategy.

The Opposition Leader said the next Council of Australian Governments meeting is not due until March.

“Clearly this is not business as usual but Mr Morrison is not listening. He is not listening to the fire chiefs, he is not listening to the science when it comes to climate change,” Mr Albanese said.

“Since he returned from Hawaii Scott Morrison said that there is no need to change any measures on climate change at all. He indeed has dismissed calls for change as panic.

“Well I say to Mr Morrison, people are scared of what is going on around them. If Mr Morrison thinks that there is nothing to see here it is because he can’t see through the smoke and haze that is being created by these bushfires.”