Greens leader fires row over climate change

Richard Di Natale is resisting internal pressure to resign amid accusations he lacks empathy after blaming inaction on climate change for bushfires.

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale is facing internal pressure to resign over the party’s shock loss in the Batman by-election. Picture: Kym Smith.

Richard Di Natale is resisting internal pressure to resign as Greens leader following the party’s shock loss in the Batman by-election, amid accusations he lacks empathy after blaming inaction on climate change for the weekend’s bushfires and cyclone that destroyed homes and livestock.

Deflecting criticism over his handling of the Batman defeat and poor results in this month’s South Australian and Tasmanian elections, Senator Di Natale linked the Turnbull government’s climate change policies to the bushfires in NSW and Victoria, as well as Cyclone Marcus in the Northern Territory.

Malcolm Turnbull rebuked Senator Di Natale over his anti-coal, pro-renewables speech, ­delivered in the Senate yesterday, and the Greens leader’s comments sparked angry responses from ­regional leaders.

“This is not the time to politicise a disaster like this,” the Prime Minister said on a visit to Bega, where bushfire-hit residents have been sheltering. “You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought or a storm, to climate change.”

Mike Kelly, the Labor MP for Eden-Monaro whose electorate takes in Tathra, where 69 homes were destroyed, said the Greens should not be trying to score cheap political points.

“This has been something that has completely transcended politics,” Dr Kelly said.

Senator Di Natale was yesterday urged to step down by one of the most senior Greens figures in Western Australia, over the “untold cultural damage” he had ­inflicted on the party and the ­“explicitly centrist” policies he had pursued as federal leader.

Former WA Greens co-­convener Grahame Bowland ­rubbished Senator Di Natale’s call for a “purge” of party members ­responsible for leaks against the Greens’ candidate in the Batman by-election, Alex Bhathal.

Mr Bowland said he had witnessed a cultural shift in the party since Senator Di Natale claimed the leadership in 2015.

“This is not the first time Richard has called for those who dissent from his personal vision of the party’s future to be forcibly ­removed from our organisation,” Mr Bowland said.

Richard Di Natale and Sarah Hanson-Young on bushfires.

After blaming the Batman ­defeat on Greens members and threatening to throw them out of the party, Senator Di Natale launched an attack on the government by linking inaction on climate change with the bushfires.

“Australians are bearing the brunt of their failure,” Senator Di Natale said. “In the last few days we’ve seen bushfires savage ­Tathra, Bega and southwest Victoria. We’ve seen a cyclone hit Darwin ... We are seeing climate change in our everyday lives have an impact on the risk of bushfires to our communities.”

His comments received subdued support from Cathy Griff, who represents the Greens on the Bega Valley Shire council. Ms Griff, whose council serves the Tathra residents forced to evacuate from their homes on Sunday, said Senator Di Natale’s climate change link was a “very difficult connection” to make. “I think you would have to say that with more extreme temperatures — even such as we have seen in Sydney of late — that there is going to be more fires,” Ms Griff said.

“And so it is hard to make a ­direct causal connection. But with climate change having taken hold already or being evident already, it will entail more fires throughout this very dry continent.”

There has been a rapid rise in the number of Greens sitting on coastal NSW councils in recent years, amid growing concerns about restrictions on land clearing in beachside communities. The Greens now have members in at least 15 coastal local government areas between Tweed Heads and Bega Valley.

The Greens have consistently argued against mandatory hazard-reduction burns, calling for authorities to take into account “the environmental constraints and needs of our native forests”.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg yesterday warned that Senator Di Natale’s speech was “the latest example of the Greens engaging in an insensitive, ideological rant designed to detract from their own internal problems”.

“No wonder the majority of Australians are turned off by the Greens and their tactics,” Mr Frydenberg said.

Deputy Prime Minister ­Michael McCormack said Senator Di Natale’s comments exposed “his complete lack of empathy and common sense, let alone his understanding of regional Australia or the environment”.

Mr McCormack, who holds the NSW seat of Riverina, said the focus should be on the men and women who were fighting “ferocious” fires around the country as well as those helping with floods and the cyclone in the north.

“Shame on the Greens for using tragedy and disaster to push their agenda — how typical and bloody minded,” Mr McCormack said.

NSW Nationals senator John Williams accused conservationists of amplifying the risk of major fires by locking up more bushland.

South Australian Greens ­senator Sarah Hanson-Young said bushfires were becoming more ­severe and frequent “as a result of climate change” and backed in Senator Di Natale’s leadership.

“Richard Di Natale’s leadership is safe and we need him now — we need him to step up and make sure the party is pulled ­together tightly,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

Cyclone Marcus swept across the Northern Territory on Saturday, bringing down power lines and hundreds of trees in what Chief Minister Michael Gunner described as the biggest storm to hit the Top End in 30 years.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: RACHEL BAXENDALE