There are fires, they’re pretty bad, about as bad as they’ve ever been. Less people have died than some earlier ones, but huge land areas and, crucially, it’s all happened quite a bit earlier than usual and likely will continue for months more.
At least 27 people and hundreds of thousands of animals have died.
And ScoMo is probably toast because of his incompetence.
Does that about cover it?
Full disclosure - I’ve never been to Australia, but my niece did have to evacuate from Bateman’s Bay just after New Year’s, so I’m not completely removed from knowing about the situation
As far as I’m aware there’s been many previous years when fires started earlier.
I’m no fan of the Australian PM but criticism of him about Bushfires is misguided. Bushfires are managed in Australia state by state with the Federal government almost never involved.
Personally I think the bushfire management should be handled by Federal Government but at the moment it is not.
That’s why Scott Morrison thought he could go on holiday during Bushfire season anyway. You’re welcome to criticise him for millions of things but not about this.
There are fires throughout the year. What’s unusual (which you’ll note is not the same as unique) is having the “main” bush fire season start before summer even arrives. That’s not me saying it, that’s Australian firefighting professionals.
Err, the criticism of ScoMo isn’t about how the fires are being fought. It’s about his ridiculous handling of the PR (That “best place to raise your kids” bullshit was particularly laughable. His colleague’s comments about dead Greens supporters wasn’t. At all.), and his abscence initially, and his being in the back pocket of Big Coal.
If he thought it was no big deal, why all the secrecy, then? No, he’s the leader of a country. When his country is facing a natural disaster, being on the beach in another country is not a good look.
That’s leaving aside all the perfectly legitimate criticisms of him regarding government policies re: coal, renewables and climate change.
Why is it seeming more and more like this thread wasn’t *just *a simple question about what non-Australians know? :dubious:
Regarding your last point I’m personally trying not to set my hopes too high, and also I’d use a different word than incompetence, but otherwise, no argument with that summary.
One aspect being reported on here in the US is that koalas will go extinct in the wild in the near future due to the fires. In addition to direct deaths in the flames, supposedly enough of their habitat has been destroyed that it’s only a matter of time before they’re all gone. At least according to some of the articles I’ve read.
In the short term koalas will suffer however their habitat loves fire, you can burn a gumtree till its a blackened leafless stump and the next rains bring green leaves. The Aboriginals use to burn at low temps to favour the ground cover, the fire service burn at medium temp to reduce fuel and at the moment high intensity burns will give us more gum trees than ever. How we manage the forest is up for debate but something has to change.