Thoughts & prayers won't cut it as catastrophic fires burn

Thoughts & prayers won’t cut it as catastrophic fires blaze

fires
Catastrophic fire conditions in NSW and Queensland over the weekend resulted in three fatalities and at least 150 homes destroyed and there is no relief in sight.

A state of emergency has been declared by Premier Gladys Berejiklian for the next seven days as Greater Sydney and the Greater Hunter brace for conditions authorities say will be “as bad at it gets”.

The last time a state of emergency was declared in the state was 2013 when there were extensive bushfires in the Blue Mountains.

More than 850,000 hectares in NSW have been destroyed since the start of the bushfire season – almost more than the last three fire seasons combined.

Traditionally, the bushfire danger period commenced on October 1 in NSW but in recent years in parts of the state it’s been brought forward to August 1. That in itself is telling of the change in conditions.

Politically, of course, the fires are highly charged.

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended his “thoughts and prayers” to everyone impacted which was quickly derided as being as futile as offering ‘thoughts and prayers’ to victims of gun violence.

Speaking on Radio National on Monday morning the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack described people raising climate change concerns as “raving inner city lunatics”.

“They don’t need the ravings of some pure, enlightened and woke capital city greenies at this time, when they’re trying to save their homes, when in fact they’re going out in many cases saving other peoples’ homes and leaving their own homes at risk,” he said.

The premier Gladys Berejiklian also criticised attempts to conflate climate change with the catastrophic fires.

Alarmingly, the former Chief of Fire and Rescue NSW, Greg Mullins, has reportedly been attempting to raise the alarm with the Prime Minister and ministers regarding these conditions in vain.

 

Just last week the drought coordinator handed down a report saying drought is not a natural disaster and must be accepted as an enduring feature of the Australian landscape which climate change is only going to make worse.

NSW is burning. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed, ecosystems threatened. There is no relief in sight.

Thoughts and prayers aren’t going to cut it. Pretending that climate change is a faux concern only held by ‘inner city woke lefties’ isn’t going to cut it. Positioning these fires as being ‘above politics’ isn’t going to cut it.

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