Anthony Albanese warns next bushfire season could be ‘as dangerous as Black Summer’

Anthony Albanese has warned the nation to prepare for a hot summer of increased bushfire risk, saying that Australia needs to prepare for the increased number of extreme weather events due to climate change.

Anthony Albanese at the National Bushfire Preparedness Summit at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Beach

Anthony Albanese has warned the nation to prepare for a fire season “every bit as dangerous” as the Black Summer, saying Australians needed to brace for an increase in extreme weather events because of climate change.

The Prime Minister said his government accepting the science on climate change and taking steps to reduce emissions while also strengthening the ­nation’s preparations for future disasters.

Labor has been ramping up its natural disaster preparedness, with representatives from emergency services, government and the non-profit sector convening in Canberra on Tuesday for the second day of the National Dis­aster Preparedness Summit.

Mr Albanese told a crowd of about 250 stakeholders, who had undertaken two days of war gaming disaster scenarios based on the seasonal outlook, that “this was not a normal Canberra September” with the temperature forecast to reach 27C at the weekend. “In the first month of spring here, Australia’s already fighting fires; we’ve just had the hottest July on record,” he said.

“I’m told that Sydney on the weekend is going to be 35C or 36C on grand final day.

“So who knew that climate change was real, and that science might tell us things about what is happening?

“We need to respond.”

Mr Albanese said his government was committed to treating the coming fire season with the “seriousness and urgency it deserves”, pledging that Australia would no longer be in the “naughty corner” of international climate conventions.

“What my government is doing is both accepting the science, by doing what we can to be not just a part of reducing emissions and mitigating climate change nationally but by actually being a part of local action, rather than being in the naughty corner when it comes to international conferences,” he said.

“But we also need to deal with the realities of increased number of extreme weather events and increased intensity of those events as well.

“Because there is consensus that Australia is facing a fire season ahead every bit as dangerous as was inflicted in the Black ­Summer a few years ago.”

The Climate Council has also sounded the alarm about the risk that fossil fuel projects pose to the climate, releasing a report criticising the nation’s environmental laws for failing to directly address climate change.

The council’s analysis found that 740 fossil fuel projects had been approved under the Environment Protection and Bio­diversity Conservation Act, with chief executive Amanda McKenzie calling for the law to be changed.

“Our understanding of the way climate change threatens the environment has changed dramatically in the 20 years since this law was written,” she said.

“But the direct protections ­offered by our national environment law simply haven’t kept up.”