Sad sacks defend SmoCo’s dereliction of duty

A dodo can see SmoCo has screwed up big time. Whether it is the simple political optics of guzzling Mai Tais in the clear air of a distant land while his country burns and chokes, the basic reality of what is expected of a leader during national crisis, or the formal structure of such. In all three cases SmoCo has failed spectacularly.

No previous Liberal leader would acted in this way. Malcolm Turnbull would have convened summits to address need. Tony Abbott would be doing what he is already doing, aiding at the front line. John Howard was an excellent empathetic leader who rallied with great comfort for the afflicted in times of crisis.

All three would have done their duty, to co-ordinate, to explain, to comfort. SmoCo has failed on all three fronts.

As The Guardian explains, it is his job to co-ordinate:

The government was warned by the Department of Home Affairs after the May election that Australia faced more frequent and severe heatwaves and bushfires, and that livelihoods would be affected without effective action on climate change.

The department’s incoming government brief to the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, warned of “disasters” exacerbated by climate change.

“The physical effects of climate change, population growth, and urbanisation mean that without effective action more Australians’ livelihoods will be impacted by disasters into the future and the cost of those disasters will continue to grow,” the brief stated.

“Coordinated national action to drive efforts to reduce these risks and improve national resilience is required.”

The brief, obtained under freedom of information, said disasters were only going to get worse.

“Life in Australia is increasingly disrupted by disasters. Australians will experience – as we did this summer – more frequent and severe heatwaves, bushfires, floods, and cyclones. These will increasingly occur concurrently.”

The brief quoted Deloitte Access Economics figures putting the cost of disasters to the Australian economy at $18.2bn a year, rising to $39bn by 2050.

Scott Morrison has ruled out a change in climate policy in response to the bushfire crisis. Since returning to Australia from a holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night, Morrison has been touring fire-affected regions of New South Wales.

While those defending the prime minister’s decision to take leave have frequently referred to the bushfire and disaster response as primarily a state issue, a chart put together by the department in the brief puts the prime minister on equal footing with state premiers and chief ministers when it comes to crisis coordination arrangements.

The brief noted that while state and territory governments are considered the first responders, the federal government’s role is to support the governments through national coordination of efforts in the event crises cross state borders, as well as developing and implementing national mitigation policies.

The need is obvious as resources are stretched to the limit, at Domain:

The president of the body representing thousands of volunteer firefighters is demanding immediate income support and masks for firefighters, warning the situation is now “out of control”.

Mick Holton, the president of the Volunteer Fire Firefighters Association, accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian of ignoring rising public concerns. The leaders maintain they have not had any special requests made of them by fire chiefs who are “very comfortable with the arrangements”.

The intervention follows days of rising fears about the sustainability of NSW’s firefighting operations as personal bills mount for exhausted volunteers grappling with months of fires down the east coast.

Frustrated by the lack of action and arguing now is the time for change, Mr Holton said after weeks on the front, volunteers had racked up expenses, crowd-funded smoke masks and foregone thousands of dollars in income to defend homes.

But no, simple pragmatism is spun into “kneejerk” reactions and panic, via the ABC:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the Government is “not going to make any knee-jerk responses” to the growing bushfire catastrophe, despite calls for compensation for firefighters.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese wants an urgent meeting of state and federal leaders to discuss the bushfire threat and address the need to pay firefighters.

“I say to the Prime Minister he can do three things immediately,” Mr Albanese said, “which is to bring forward the COAG [Council of Australian Governments] meeting, meet the former fire chiefs, and do something now to provide support for those volunteer firefighters who have been in the field for such a long time”.

Even as the New Years Test might have to be moved, sticking the boot deep into SmoCo:

A leading environmental science expert has urged cricket authorities to revisit the measure used to assess air quality when they develop new protocols as Cricket Australia braces for the prospect of play being suspended during the Sydney Test because of bushfire smoke.

The air quality index reading used by cricket is assessed over a rolling 24-hour period but Professor Mark Taylor from Macquarie University’s department of environmental sciences wants the game to consider change.

“If CA are reviewing their policy in regards to air quality and health risk for cricketers it would be prudent for them to consider a period of particulate exposure that is relevant to the period of play, both nationally and internationally for when our cricketers are playing overseas,” Professor Taylor said.

But the sad sacks of the Australian media wouldn’t know a tipping point if it landed on their heads. Starting with sockpuppet, Terry McCrann:

Despite the claims of these very stupid and increasingly hysterical people, you can have an argument over the degree, the context and the content of climate change and the role of CO2 emissions.

‘All the scientists’ and even more ‘all the climate scientists’ — whatever that nonsense term means — might well agree that CO2 is causing climate change.

But what you cannot have an argument over is that Australian can do nothing — nada, nil, absolute zero — about either the global climate or the local one.

We can do much, of course. We can stop getting in the way of global mitigation for starters, making it more difficult for others to do the same.

Actaully, it’s the entire Murdoch Press. Imagine the hysteria if it were a Labor Government! Crowned by king of the sad sacks, Richo:

I have watched up close how Prime Minsters work, and trying to find a “good” time to get away is very difficult indeed.

The old bait and switch doesn’t cut it. Nobody disputes PMs need a holiday. But you don’t take it as your nation burns to the ground. The contempt is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

Who knows what madness siezed SmoCo. I’d guess he planned to go and when the fires deteriorated he calculated that his holiday would boost his pro-carbon credentials with his power base in QLD.

Instead, in a few days, SmoCo has torched his government.