Di Natale doubles down on blaming climate change for fires

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has doubled down after yesterday blaming government inaction on climate change for two bushfires.

Sarah Hanson-Young and Richard Di Natale. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has doubled down after yesterday blaming government inaction on climate change for two bushfires, likening a failure to acknowledge climate change as the cause to the American National Rifle Association’s refusal to acknowledge the role gun laws play in preventing mass shootings.

Communities in the NSW south coast town of Tathra are recovering after a blaze which is still burning destroyed 69 homes on Sunday, while in South West Victoria 18 homes, hundreds of livestock and tens of thousands of hectares of farmland were razed.

In an anti-coal speech to the Senate yesterday Greens leader Richard Di Natale blamed the government for the natural disasters, saying “Australians are bearing the brunt of their failure.”

Senator Di Natale was yesterday accused of a lack of empathy, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying now was “not the time to politicise a disaster”.

During Senate Question Time this afternoon, Senator Di Natale told the government’s leader in the Senate Mathias Cormann that fire victims had “pleaded” with him to “bring up the link between climate change and bushfires”.

“They say that treating the symptoms and not the cause is putting them at risk,” Senator Di Natale said.

Senator Cormann said the government was taking effective action against climate change, consistent with its international commitments.

“No amount of Green posturing would have prevented the sad events that we have witnessed in recent days and I think it reflects very poorly on the Greens in general and Senator Di Natale in particular that he is making this link in this way on this occasion,” Senator Cormann said.

Senator Di Natale then dug in.

“Minister, why is your position any different to the NRA in America, who whenever there it is a shooting of innocent people, they claim that is not the time to talk about gun control. Why is your position any different?” he said.

Senator Cormann said that in due deference to fire victims he would resist providing a political answer, except to say that he had already acknowledged that the government was taking effective action against climate change, and the premise of Senator Di Natale’s question was therefore false.

Senator Di Natale finally asked how supporting the Adani coal mine was helping to mitigate against bushfires.

“How is reducing the Renewable Energy Target supporting action on climate change?” he asked.

“How is bringing a lump of coal into the Australian parliament and waving it

around, doing anything to advance the action we need to take when it comes to dangerous climate change?”

Senator Cormann said Australia was in a great position to help reduce global greenhouse-gas

emissions by contributing cleaner coal into markets around the globe which would displace dirtier coal.

‘If not now, then when?’

Senator Di Natale earlier held a lengthy press conference where he defended his comments in the Senate yesterday.

“The Prime Minister and the Labor Party say that we shouldn’t be talking about climate change right now, but I say to them: if not now, then when?” he said.

“I say this because I care very deeply about those communities, those people who have been affected. I say this because we have to do everything we can to minimise the risk of more severe, more frequent bushfires. I say it as somebody who lives in regional Victoria, somebody who lives in the South West of Victoria, not far away from where those fires took place.

“I say it as somebody who’s spoken to people in Tathra who want us to be ensuring that people understand that if we continue to do nothing about climate change then fires will become more severe and more frequent. I say it as a doctor who understands that you can’t treat the symptoms of a disease without treating the cause.

“We need to do everything we can to ensure that we take much stronger action on climate change to help protect these communities, to help keep them safe, and to make sure that as a nation we look after people, and that means not ignoring the facts, the science that shows us that dangerous climate change will make bushfires worse.”

Greens climate change & energy spokesman Adam Bandt thanked Senator Di Natale for his comments.

“Politicians in Australia who don’t want to talk about climate change when there’s a bushfire are like politicians in the US who don’t want to talk about gun control when there’s a school shooting,” Mr Bandt said.

“Malcolm Turnbull says we’ve always had bushfires in Australia. Well that’s right, so why the hell would you wish more of them on people around the country? That’s what the Liberals are proposing.”

Asked what Australia could do about a global problem when we account for just 1.3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Senator Di Natale said: “How long have you got?”

“I can give you a 100 page document that tells you what needs to happen,” he said.

“What we need to do is we need to make the transition away from coal to renewable energy. We have to stop the Adani mine from going ahead. We have to recognise that coal doesn’t have a long term future, we need to ensure that we take advantage of the huge jobs that come with building more solar farms, more wind farms. We have to do everything we can to reduce pollution from the transport sector. That’s why we’ve got a policy encouraging use of electric vehicles.

“There’s so much that needs to happen, and what we’ve got instead of action is a Prime Minister, a Treasurer that brings a lump of coal to parliament and thinks this is all a great big joke. Well climate change is real, it’s happening right now, and we’re feeling the effects of it right across regional Australia.”

‘Outrageous, not surprising’

Liberal frontbencher Michael Sukkar said it was “quite outrageous” but not surprising that the Greens had blamed government inaction on climate change for two bushfires and Cyclone Marcus, which hit the Northern Territory over the weekend.

“Sadly while it’s really disappointing to see comments like that, it’s not surprising to see that from the Greens,” Mr Sukkar said.

“In natural disasters such as these, as Australians I think our best instincts and best spirits come out, and it’s all hands on deck to see how we can assist the affected communities and individuals, yet in the Greens political party they can’t let any one of these opportunities go by without trying to make a tawdry, self-interested political point.

“I think it’s actually quite outrageous, and I think the wonderful thing is, if you look at 95 per cent of Australian politicians we all focus on the main game, which is how we can help those affected communities and individuals, but again, sadly but not surprisingly the Greens always seem to try and use these for political purposes.

“I think objectively, the vast majority of people know that when a natural disaster like this occurs, you’re going to get a chorus of Greens making self-interested political points.

“Again though, luckily we don’t get that from many other politicians. It just comes predominantly from the Greens and some parts of the hard left of the Labor Party, but that is thankfully a small minority.”

‘Don’t be afraid to ask for help’: Shorten

Speaking to evacuees in nearby Bega before surveying the wreckage in Tathra, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told fire victims to look after themselves and ask for help if they need is.

“At the moment, it is all adrenaline and emotions,” Mr Shorten said.

“I just want to say to you that it is a miracle that people haven’t been hurt and I am very grateful for that.

“I want to say to you that all of Australia saw the television images and everyone cares.

“Not many people in Australia haven’t been to the south coast for a lovely holiday or don’t know anyone here so a lot of people care about you.

“In particular, I want to say to the people who perhaps have lost houses or sheds or perhaps have lost photos and heirlooms and some of you might be wondering how on earth can you start again and what has happened to your property. I just want to say to you, ask for help.

“There is no rule book which says how you have got to respond. This is not a one day matter. You will need help and you should ask for help.

“If you are doing it hard, that is perfectly normal. I worked on the bushfire reconstruction in Victoria which was a dreadful experience, too. You can’t predict when you are

going to find it hard. Just ask for help. We are all here to help you.”

Mr Shorten said he did not want to comment on accusations of negligence from residents, who say the local council has not conducted hazard reduction burns since 2014.

“I understand that when bushfires happen, people want an explanation,” Mr Shorten said.

“We do share this continent with nature. I don’t want to get into the blame game today.”

Mr Shorten said residents were entitled to have their own views.

“I’m not here to politicise this. I’ve got no doubt that there’ll be matters to be spoken through — the issue of the clearing and no doubt the issue of phone towers in the future, but today we’ve got to remember there’s people who haven’t even seen if their house is destroyed. “There are people who are beginning to sort of wrap their head around, now the adrenaline has stopped pumping, how do they rebuild? That’s my priority today.”

Mr Shorten said Senator Di Natale had do explain his climate change comments for himself.

“I understand there is a debate about climate in this country. On a day when 69 houses have gone, it’s not a debate I’m going to start arking up into,” he said.

“I think there is a legitimate debate about the effects of climate change. But today I am in Tathra, and probably like you and like everyone here, when you see this damage, I just think it’s a miracle no one died.

“Today for me it’s about respecting the people who’ve got to rebuild, and it’s about respecting the skill of our people that no one died.”

Mr Shorten called on the insurance industry to do the right thing by fire victims.

“This is the time that people pay their premiums and they expect to get the service they paid for,” he said.

“I hear people are saying the insurance companies are getting in touch with them. I just say to the insurance industry: this is when you are on display. Sort out the claims quickly, don’t stuff people around.

“It has been a dreadful fire, people have got to get started again. I just say to the insurance industry: Treat these people like you would want to be treated if it was your house that got burnt down.”

‘Focus on fire, victims first’

RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers.

Local politicians from both major parties have called for the public to focus on the immediate needs of the Tathra community before asking difficult questions about why the local Rural Fire Service refused an offer of help from Fire and Rescue NSW for more than three hours before the blaze destroyed 69 homes on Sunday.

Fire and Rescue NSW incident logs show the state government agency offered to send a crew to the fire at Reedy Swamp in the Bega Valley at 12:34pm, and again at 12:58pm, following a flood of Triple 0 calls, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

Both offers were refused by the volunteer-based Rural Fire Service, which finally issued a request for help at 3:40pm, by which time the fire had crossed the Bega river and was burning through Tathra.

RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said his organisation had refused the offer from Fire and Rescue NSW, because as the organisation responsible for fighting fires in towns and cities, it did not have the vehicles necessary to fight the fire while it was in rugged terrain.

“People could see it from Bega itself, it was looking at mountain ranges that were directly in front of people from Bega,” Mr Rogers told 2GB. “So it was very visible but it was in a remote area and that’s where that fire was for that afternoon.

“As soon as that fire left the rugged area, and into more established areas, we then asked for assistance.”

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance, who is the Member for the local area of Bega, said firefighters were still working to put out the blaze, and questions about the RFS’s decisions on Sunday should be asked later.

“We’ve got people still working in command posts. We’ve got to maintain the morale of our community, and yes, there’s questions to be asked, but we want to make sure they’re asked at the right time in the right forum,” Mr Constance told ABC radio.

Mr Constance conceded many residents would already be asking those questions.

“They will be, absolutely, but I’ve got to be honest with you: local people are focused on getting the fire out, but more importantly getting those people who’ve lost everything supported, and also of course the tough situation where we’ve got to get the people back to the community as well, and that’s where everyone’s focus is.

“Yes, those questions must be asked, and where possible answers given immediately. There’s no doubt about that, but everyone’s very focused.

“As I said, my concern as the local member at the moment is maintaining the morale of our community, including among volunteer firefighters who’ve saved 398 homes.”

Smoke from fires engulf the village of Tathra on the south coast of NSW.

Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly, who is the member for the local seat of Eden-Monaro, took a similar view when asked whether the local council had done sufficient hazard reduction burns, amid accusations of negligence from residents.

“There’ll be time to do all the lessons learned out of this afterwards,” Mr Kelly told ABC radio.

“I know hazard reduction’s practised right across this vast region of mine, and it’s a heavily forested region. We’ve been through some massive fire and disaster challenges like this before, the 2003 fires were devastating, so we draw as much as we can out of that.

“The conditions though of this fire were unique. It was really bizarre and erratic weather conditions, extremely gusting winds and embers being transported long distances beyond the fire line, changing the direction of the fire, so I’m not sure what else could have been done to deal with that sort of situation, in fact right now the focus has got to be on the community. “We’ve got a community that’s hurting right now, and they need our help, our support in making sure that we’re then following through on the concerns being shown today.”

Asked for his view on Greens leader Richard Di Natale’s claim yesterday that government inaction on climate change had caused the Tathra fire, a fire in South West Victoria and a cyclone in Darwin, Mr Kelly said that if any community was up for a discussion about climate change, it was Tathra, but now was not the right time.

“They were the birthplace in our region of the Clean Energy for Eternity movement, but that’s for later,” Mr Kelly said.

“This community now are just going through that terrible emotional roller coaster ride and they’re in the initial phases of sensory overload, shock and adrenaline and that’s giving way to the emotional reality of what they’ve been told last night that they’re not going to be able to get back out to their homes until at least Wednesday afternoon now because of that asbestos issue.

“That’s just to make sure the situation is safe, so the nights have been a nightmare and this is about people first and foremost and we’ll have this discussion about broader issues later on.”