Greens leader, Christine Milne, said that the Federal Government is failing to realise the importance of climate change. This month’s bushfires in South Australia and Victoria illustrate such unpreparedness, she says.
“Look at what is happening to people, communities, our environment, loss of infrastructure and for goodness sake abandon your nonsense about climate variability,” she said.
“Every year we are going to face these extreme weather events, which are going to cost lives and infrastructure, and enough is enough.”
She urged the Abbott government to accept that global warming is real and to work together in overcoming extreme weather conditions.
Minister for Justice, Michael Keenan, said that too much money is spent in response and recovery when it comes to disasters in Australia, and not enough is spent to prevent the threat of a disaster.
“Clearly we need to have a conversation with the states [about] whether we can spend that money more effectively to mitigate the effects of a disaster before they occur,” he said.
IMAGE: The scene after a bushfire moved through the area near One Tree Hill in the Adelaide Hills, Australia on January 5, 2015. (Brenton Edwards/AFP/Getty Images)