Australian fires

It does NZ news outlets no credit to take cheap shots at the Australian Prime Minister over the fires currently burning in NSW and Victoria.

It is finally being acknowledged that the fires are the result of years of green-tinged local and state governments not carrying out vital fuel reduction burns in the cooler months.

For a fire you need oxygen, fuel and ignition. We cannot do anything about the first of these, but the second two we can influence. Many of these fires have been ignited either by lightning or arsonists, which have nothing to do with climate change.

Scott Morrison had indicated that land management, fuel loads and planning laws will be reviewed as a result of the fires. Australia’s 1.3 per cent contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions have not caused these fires, also bearing in mind that carbon dioxide makes up 0.03 per common folk even if it was, as in olden days, just a bigger pin in their cloak. Years ago, when dealing with tourists from USA several visitors insisting on being addressed as ambassador, or senator, even though they were long retired.

I will agree with some of the comments about business people and sports players but Michael Jones and John Kirwan morphed their sports careers into something useful. On the other hand, what did Sir John Key actually do for the benefit of ordinary Kiwis? Just being Prime Minister is not enough.

There was a story in Wellington years ago when the knighthoods were scrapped that the government had trouble being able to appoint judges to the High Court. Apparently quite a few barristers did not want to give up half their lucrative earnings just to be a judge. However, a reintroduced “gong” went some way to alleviating the problem.

David Speary, Northcote