Scott Morrison returns from holiday and signals no change to climate policy despite bushfires crisisScott Morrison has signalled the Australian government will not increase its efforts to combat climate change despite an extended bushfire crisis and a record-breaking heatwave. Morrison acknowledged that his absence – leaving deputy prime minister Michael McCormack in charge since Monday – had caused “great anxiety” and said if he had his time over he “would make different decisions”. On Saturday, McCormack said he “absolutely” agreed that “further action” to combat climate change is needed. Labor leader Anthony Albanese told reporters in Sydney it was a “good thing” Morrison is back but there was “no change” in the prime minister’s approach to the bushfires or climate change. “The deputy prime minister yesterday said [that] new measures were needed … and today, going from the acting prime minister to the real prime minister, we have a dismissal of the need for any action on climate change,” he said.

Source: The Guardian December 22, 2019 00:21 UTC