The local press published a [unusually long] letter by Felicity Marco [Letters to NT News 7/01/2020] entitled ‘Time for new leadership’ about the failure of the Government to heed the advice of bushfire experts.
In April 2019. 23 fire and emergency chiefs sent a letter to the Australian PM in an attempt to address the climate catastrophe that lay ahead. The PM refused to meet the “23” as they were retired. The PM announced that he only takes advice from those currently working.
By September 2019, Australia was on fire. Our volunteers left paid employment to fight for their communities. Our PM leased one large firefighting aircraft from the US in response in November. The plan was to fight the largest fires man has seen on the planet with just seven large aircraft. To put this into perspective – the California wildfires [burnt under 2 million acres], had 30 large aircraft, so far Australia has burnt over 12 million acres.
Throughout Christmas and the new year the country burnt, lives were lost, property lost, and wildlife decimated. The PM talked about the cricket, and offered thoughts and prayers. By early January we’d lost 20 lives, dozens missing presumed dead. 500,000 wildlife had perished, well over 1000 homes lost, with thousands of people displaced. The PM then decided it was time to bring in the military, and lease a few more aircraft. The fires worsened, the predictions were no rain for at least the next month. The smoke rose 14 km into the sky, completely covering our NZ neighbours , the fires so intense they were creating firestorms. The Army Reserves were called in. The Federal Government’s response has been to say they planned, they were ready for this. Yet the facts show they were not ready, they had not planned.
WHILE AUSTRALIA was burning and people in Sydney were getting an even bigger taste of what other Australians in regional areas have been living with for months now, our Prime Minister addressed the nation.
Not about a climate emergency.
Not about a bushfire emergency.
Not about a health emergency.
Instead, the leader of the Government addressed that urgent need to protect the right for religious folk to discriminate. Even the usually fawning journalists at major publications who normally praise the PM and his so-called mastery of the ‘game of politics’ were struggling to find anything positive to say. To be fair, they were also probably struggling to breathe or work on a phone sitting on the kerb due to a smoke alarm-induced building evacuation.
Morrison’s Pentecostal Christian faith is at the centre of his understanding of political life. He invited cameras to film him while worshiping at his church, Horizon, in southern Sydney. And in his maiden speech to Parliament in 2008, he described Church leader Brian Houston as his mentor and himself as standing for ‘the immutable truths and principles of the Christian faith’. Horizon Church is part of the broader Pentecostal movement that emerged in the US in the early 20th century. That miracles happen is a central tenet of Pentecostalism. As a religion, it sees itself as re-creating the gifts of the Spirit experienced by the earliest Christian worshipers. Along with the working of miracles, these included speaking in tongues and hands-on healing.
Morrison’s mention of an election miracle coheres with the Pentecostal belief in the divine providence. According to Pentecostal theology, all of history – and the future – is in the control of God; from creation, to the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, to the redemption of all in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In turn, this will lead to the second coming of Christ, the end of the world and the final judgement. This is why further action on reducing carbon emissions to counter the environmental damage wrought by climate change may have little intellectual purchase with the PM. If the end of the world through climate change is part of God’s providential plan, there is precious little that we need to or can do about it.
In keeping with his theology, Morrison appears to see himself as chosen by God to lead us all towards his understanding of the promised land, which as we know means, “If you have a go, you get a go”. This ‘have a go’ philosophy sits squarely within Pentecostal prosperity theology. This is the view that belief in God leads to material wealth. Salvation too has a connection to material wealth – Jesus saves those who save’. So the godly become wealthy and the wealthy are godly. And, unfortunately, the ungodly become poor and the poor are ungodly. This theology aligns perfectly with the neo-liberal economic views espoused by Morrison. The consequence is that it becomes a God-given task to liberate people from reliance on the welfare state. So there is no sense in Pentecostal economics of a Jesus Christ who was on the side of the poor and the oppressed. Nor is there one of rich men finding it easier to pass through the eyes of needles than to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. On the contrary, God helps those who are able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
That said, in some ways, Pentecostalism is pretty light on beliefs. Rather, it stresses an immediate personal connection with God that is the exclusive property of those who are saved. This leads to a fairly binary view of the world. There are the saved and the damned, the righteous and the wicked, the godly and the satanic. In this Pentecostal exclusive view, Jesus is the only way to salvation. Only those who have been saved by Jesus [generally those who have had a personal experience of being ‘born again’ which often happens in church spontaneously during worship] have any hope of attaining eternal life in heaven. At its best, it generates a modesty and humility; at its worst a smugness and arrogance. So only born-again Christians will gain salvation. Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, and non-born-again Christians are doomed to spend an eternity in the torments of hell. Thus, as the website of the Christian group to which Scott Morrison’s Horizon church belongs puts it, “We believe in the everlasting punishment of the wicked [in the sense of eternal torment] who willfully reject and despise the love of God manifested in the great sacrifice of his only Son on the cross for their salvation”.
And those who lost their lives protecting the community, the owners of the 2000 plus houses destroyed, probably should have accepted the love of God, because, in private, away from the media, church members will say they should have made a bigger effort to be godly.
The Department of Climate Change sits in the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio, but produces a separate Portfolio Budget Statement that also incorporates the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator. The committee took evidence from the Department of Climate Change. Main issues discussed were:
School essay competition
The committee questioned the department on the subject of the ‘Think Climate Change, Think Change Competition’, which is an essay competition for school children. Concerns were raised about the judging for the competition as the website appeared to indicate that the department would be responsible for selecting winning entries. In response to these concerns, Dr Martin Parkinson, secretary of the department, commented that three judges will undertake the final judging: two educators and Mr Parkinson as the third member. Dr Parkinson went on to inform the committee that the competition had been quite successful so far with more printed material required because of demand:
Other issues discussed with the department included the proposed operation of the Australian Carbon Trust, costs of a call centre and advertising campaign administered by the department, a report by Concept Economics, the Renewable Energy Target, the methodology used to account for carbon stored in forests and coal-fired power stations under the CPRS.
I couldn’t find a copy of the letter referred to by Felicity Marco, the following is excerpted from a letter sent by Greg Mullins, former Commissioner, NSW Fire and Rescue, to Minister David Littledick in November 2019.
The following interventions would make a material difference:
An injection of emergency funding for the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) to increase the number of medium to large [5,000 – 15,000 litre] aerial firefighting assets available for the duration of the 19/20 bushfire season, given that significant fires have already broken out in every state meaning that there will almost certainly be increasing competition and needs for scarce strategic resources. It is noted that a Business Case for increased budgetary support has been with the Government for some time, but not dealt with to date.
Given that there has been relatively little research conducted into the efficacy of large aerial firefighting assets, the opportunity should be taken to conduct a structured evaluation of the use, effectiveness and costs of medium to large aerial firefighting resources, with a report and firm recommendations on Australia’s future aerial firefighting needs and funding requirements to be delivered before the start of the next fire season. We submit that AFAC would need to be a key stakeholder. Provide assistance to NAFC, if required, to negotiate rapid lease or loan of additional medium to large firefighting aircraft from the northern hemisphere.
Arrange for an urgent meeting of Emergency Management Australia, senior representatives of the Australian Defence Force, and AFAC (as a minimum) to develop a structured approach to defining what, how, where and when the ADF can provide logistical and other support to firefighting and recovery operations in the short term (this fire season). This should then form the basis of a larger review, post-bushfire season, of possible expanded civilian support roles for the ADF during natural disasters into the future, given that current DACC arrangements are essentially ad hoc in nature.
Communicate clearly to the Australian public that the nature of bushfire risk has escalated due to climate change. In many parts of Australia, communities have not seen the scale or severity of conditions before. They need to understand this to ensure they respond appropriately to protect themselves.
Longer term, the Federal Government can make effective strategic interventions to increase community resilience and support fire and emergency services to cope with a more dangerous environment.
Fuel reduction burning is being constrained by a shortage of resources in some states and territories and by a warming and drying weather cycle, which acting in concert reduce the number of days on which fuel reduction burning can be undertaken. Of all the factors which contribute to the intensity of a fire (temperature, wind speed, topography, fuel moisture and fuel load), only fuel load can be subject to modification by human effort. Fire is an essential ecological factor, which has an important and ongoing role in maintaining biodiversity and ecological processes in Australian forests and woodlands.
As a key element in mitigating the effects of future fires, benchmarks need to be developed for funding requirements of fire, emergency and land management agencies by states and territories so that they can conduct increased, targeted fuel reduction works, and have operational capabilities (people, equipment, infrastructure) commensurate with increasing risks and strategic fuel management requirements. A suitable reporting and auditing framework should be integral to this work.
Provide funding certainty for an ongoing bushfire and natural hazards national research capability to ensure that Australia has the evidence and information required to adequately plan, prepare, respond to and recover from worsening conditions driven by climate change. Provide additional ongoing funding to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to properly resource a climate change and severe weather unit to provide vital early warning and intelligence for fire and emergency services.
Provide additional ongoing funding for the BOM to further develop the suite of Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator (ACCESS) programs that provide long-term weather prediction capabilities, and which enable fire and emergency services to better pre-plan for increasingly serious events.
Provide funding:
for AFAC, BOM and the CSIRO to jointly develop improved predictive capabilities that can model bushfire, storm and flood impacts enabling pre-planning and alerts to communities.
to develop enhanced models of community education and engagement in order to increase resilience in a more dangerous environment.
to develop enhanced national fire danger rating systems, standardised community warning tools, and emergency alerts.
Initiate a review of Australian standards for building construction and town planning that recognises the increasing intensity of bushfires in a warmer, drier climate, including the effect on flame, radiation, and ember attack zones. Require that development standards and construction levels, currently based on historical weather data, are instead based on objective data from bodies such as BOM and CSIRO on future weather extremes driven by climate change. Explore the concept that bushfire planning standards be changed to require all populated areas to be automatically deemed as “bushfire prone”, with local government having a reverse onus to the present arrangements; i.e. to provide evidence to fire services to justify excising identified areas from bushfire building and planning standards, rather than the current system which can result in lower standards than required to withstand the actual level of bushfire risk in a locality. Commence research into provision of community refuges (hardened infrastructure) that might double as community sporting facilities etc, able to provide protection for communities during floods, fires and storms.
Government action on climate change, the key driver of worsening fire and extreme weather risks. ELCA members have observed with mounting concern the escalation in extreme weather and natural disaster risks over recent decades. Our observations are fully explained by empirical data and peer reviewed, irrefutable scientific findings. The increasing risk and changes are directly driven by a warming climate. To protect Australians from worsening bushfire conditions and natural disaster risks, Australia must accelerate and increase measures to tackle the root cause, climate change. More substantial national action is required to reduce Australia’s emissions quickly and deeply to protect future generations, to safeguard our economy, and to protect Australians from the escalating risks of extreme weather. Australia is a significant player worldwide. We are the 16th largest emitter of CO2 out of more than 200 countries, and our per capita emissions are in the top 10 globally. When our exported fossil fuels are included – we would rank 5th in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. This means we bear significant international responsibility in the global effort needed to mitigate the escalating climate driven risks.
We offer our expertise to brief the Government on the bushfire challenge. In the first instance, we would welcome the opportunity to brief the National’s Party room. The relevant department should prepare a report on escalating fire and natural disaster risks over the next three decades, including an accurate assessment of risks to communities across Australia. It should detail;
a) the long term budgetary and economic implications of experiencing and responding to worsening extreme weather;
b) outline the preparedness required for communities, infrastructure, local government; health services and fire and emergency services; and
c) determine the resources required to properly protect communities.
The results should be publicised widely as this information is critical to ensure Australia is as prepared as it can be for worsening disaster risks.
It would appear that some one took notice of the expert advice. Early on Saturday, Mr Morrison announced a raft of assistance measures in response to Australia’s deadly fire crisis, including the deployment of 3,000 Australian Defence Force reservists and Royal Australian Air Force and Navy craft for rescue efforts. The Commonwealth has also set aside a further $20 million to lease four additional firefighting aircraft, while ADF bases in Brisbane and Adelaide will be made available for emergency short-term accommodation. Hours after the announcement, Mr Morrison’s office released a social media video outlining the arrangements.
The 50-second video, released on Twitter and Facebook, is set to electronic music as text of the additional assistance appears over vision of the disaster relief efforts, Defence craft, and the Prime Minister’s visits to affected communities. The ad shows Scott Morrison in the field, taking charge [angry locals refusing to shake his hand are nowhere to be seen]. Firefighters battle the flames with abundant support from ADF personnel and aerial assets. The Federal Government’s contributions are proudly listed in on-screen text. Uplifting background music instills confidence that this is a man with a plan. Unfortunately it’s all 3 months too late. Those who have been devastated should be very angry at this lack of action in the face of the advice received.
It’s not as if this sort of disaster hasn’t happened before. In the evaluation of the international response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the foreword by the UN’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery stated inter alia:
“…. our efforts to respond to the tsunami have placed in sharp relief both strengths and weaknesses in the way we organize ourselves when faced with such massive challenges. This report and the companion studies identify important lessons and an agenda for reform that deserve careful analysis and an appropriate response. They help us to see how we can and must do better in responding to ongoing and future disaster relief and recovery challenges. To my mind, the overriding messages of this report are three-fold: First, we must do better at utilizing and working alongside local structures. With nothing but good intentions, the international community descends into crisis situations in enormous numbers and its activities too often leave the very communities we are there to help on the sidelines. Local structures are already in place and more often than not the ‘first responders’ to a crisis. The way the international community [Government] goes about providing relief and recovery assistance must actively strengthen, not undermine, these local actors.
Second, we must find the will and the resources to invest much more in risk reduction and preparedness measures. Local structures and local measures – whether part of national or provincial government efforts or embedded in the communities – need to be strengthened to reduce vulnerabilities to tomorrow’s disasters. And … local actors need to forge solid partnerships between and among themselves, well in advance of their being tested in crisis.
Third, we must translate good intentions into meaningful reform. The report identifies critical systemic challenges for the humanitarian community, many of which were analyzed at length in the aftermath of the Rwanda crisis and have already been included in a range of standards and codes of conduct. But the fact that we continue to struggle to turn these principles into practice, as this report highlights, demands that we set about on our shared agenda for reform with the courage and commitment necessary to see the process through to full implementation.
William Jefferson Clinton.
There will no doubt be debate as to whether the proposal to throw billions at the problem is indeed a party political advertisement capitalizing on the disaster, or simply an effort to distract the citizenry until the spin doctors kick in with the opportunity to be born again. But when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck …
Addendum: The Monthly February 2020.
And now there’s Morrison from marketing: plodding in the ashes, searching for words or gestures to show, despite Hawaii, that he understands. But he’s an adman: the purpose of his professional existence has never been to find meaning or confront it, but to invent it. The meaning of a grieving woman and weary firefighter declining to take his proffered hand, for instance. He takes their hands anyway, not to hold and comfort them, but to compel them to comfort him. He turns his back and looks for a more likely customer. That’s the trouble with these disaster scenarios: even the most rudimentary market segmentation goes out the window. If a bloke’s got no idea what kind of customer he’s targeting, what’s he meant to say?
He says he understands his absence has caused us some “anxiety”. Not offence, bafflement or antipathy – anxiety. On social media he releases a select resume of his government’s good works in the form of a Liberal Party advertisement set to a musical pulse, a jingle.
At some point in any interview with the prime minister one is liable to be reminded of a dung beetle: he starts with nothing much at all and by unstoppable singleminded exertion he pushes it through every interrogative thicket and every hurdle of logic and evidence until he’s created a ball of bullshit several times his own size. Forget what he’s said at other times, what stunts he’s pulled, ignore the fudges, ask not where consistency, truth and substance lie: he will drown out his doubters in a storm of platitudes and shameless demotic saws. What he says may be off the point, beside the point or have no point at all, but sooner or later it becomes the point.
Some of us recall the PM expressing his concern that Greta Thunberg’s warnings about climate change might unnecessarily alarm and depress young people. The young, he said, are entitled to imagine a happier future. Just how he reconciled this admirable concern with his church’s belief in the [very fiery] End Times that await all creatures young and old, he never explained. But no matter. Despite so many indications to the contrary, he says he has never denied the reality of climate change and its effects, including the effects on the past several months of bushfires, in the course of which, we may presume, many young people found it impossible not to imagine an alarming and depressing future.
Yet it turns out the government has been busily reducing emissions from the get-go, even back when Abbott was running the show, and when Scott Morrison went into parliament with a lump of coal. The European Union is dedicating a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change. BlackRock, the world’s biggest funds manager, is getting out of thermal coal. The Bank for International Settlements is telling the RBA that central banks might have to be “climate rescuers of last resort” and “buy a large set of carbon-intensive assets”. For his part, our prime minister will allow our emissions reduction targets to “evolve”. That’s the plan. That and improving our “resilience and adaptation”. What’s more, in a sort of customer-care commitment, he’s sworn to “keep us safe”. All, of course, “without a carbon tax, without putting up electricity prices and without shutting down traditional industries upon which regional Australians depend for their very livelihood”.
And whatever the record may show, he had a perfectly amiable conversation with the lady in Cobargo. And that was not thermal coal he took into the House. It was non-thermal. That’s if it was coal at all, and not just a rock one of his advisers painted. Loyal customers that we are, why wouldn’t we believe him?
getupsolomon 