Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce has suggested two people who died in NSW bushfires “most likely” voted for the Greens.
Mr Joyce raised the suggestion while defending his criticism of Greens councils for an apparent lack of hazard-reduction burns.
“I acknowledge that the two people who died were most likely people who voted for the Green party, so I am not going to start attacking them,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“That’s the last thing I want to do.”
Mr Joyce also raised eyebrows with comments about hazard-reduction burns.
“If you keep piling dry vegetation on top of dry vegetation, which was never burnt as the Aboriginals did … then when a fire does come, and they always do come, they are horrific, they are like a holocaust,” he said.
Barnaby Joyce defends his criticism of lack of backburning by Green councils with these eyebrow raising comments : "I acknowledge that the two people who died were most likely people who voted for the Green party – I'm not going to start attacking them."
— Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) November 11, 2019
Mr Joyce’s remarks came as the first emergency warnings were issued on a day of catastrophic fire danger across NSW.
The former deputy PM also repeated his claims in an interview with The Australian, saying the Greens had increased the bushfire threat because of the party’s opposition to hazard reduction burns, particularly in national parks.
“The problems we have got have been created by the Greens,” he said.
“We haven’t had the capacity to easily access (hazard) reduction burns because of all of the paperwork that is part of green policy.
“We don’t have access to dams because they have been decommissioned on national parks because of green policy.”
Former Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Greg Mullins disputed Mr Joyce’s claims.
“Warmer, drier conditions with higher fire danger are preventing agencies from conducting as much hazard reduction burning – it is often either too wet, or too dry and windy to burn safely,” he wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.
“Blaming ‘greenies’ for stopping these important measures is a familiar, populist, but basically untrue claim.”
Mr Mullins said the bushfire crisis in NSW and Queensland was driven by unprecedented dryness and reduced long-term rainfall, among other factors. It was, he said, “an established long-term trend driven by a warming, drying climate. The numbers don’t lie, and the science is clear”.
The blame game over the fire emergency erupted after a weekend tweet from Greens MP Adam Bandt, calling for an end to coal mining.
I’m deeply saddened by the loss of life. Hearts go out to all affected & to brave firefighters.
But words & concern are not enough.
The PM does not have the climate emergency under control.
Unless we lead a global effort to quit coal & cut pollution, more lives will be lost.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) November 9, 2019
That drew a heated response from Deputy PM Michael McCormack, who slammed “raving inner-city lunatics” for talking about climate change when hundreds of homes in NSW and Queensland were at risk.
“What people need now is a little bit of sympathy, understanding and real assistance; they need help, they need shelter,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
“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. It is disgusting and I will call it out every time.”
Mr Bandt reacted to that by calling Mr McCormack a “dangerous fool” and accusing him of endangering lives.
Michael McCormack is a dangerous fool who is putting lives at risk.
By denying the climate crisis, his & Morrison’s government is failing in its first duty to do everything they can to protect the Australian people. https://t.co/RF89CUN7ck
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) November 10, 2019
On Tuesday, Mr Bandt followed up on ABC radio with a personal plea to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to put on hold debate on a bill in the NSW Parliament to expand the use of coal.
“I don’t care what he said, frankly,” Ms Berejiklian said in response.
She also repeated her earlier statement that there was a “time and a place” to discuss climate change – but not while the crisis was ongoing.
“For any of us on the ground, speaking to people traumatised, speaking to people fighting fires for weeks … know exactly what the priorities should be, and that is saving life and property,” she said.
“We can have these discussions any other time. Let’s focus on making sure our communities are safe.”
-with AAP
The post Bushfire dead ‘most likely’ Greens voters – Barnaby Joyce appeared first on The New Daily.
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