Navy plucks hundreds off beaches
Forecasts of heat and strong winds today sets in motion one of biggest evacuations in Australian history
Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee yesterday before forecast hot weather and strong winds worsen Australia’s alreadydevastating wildfires.
More than 200 fires were burning, and warnings of extreme danger to come today set in motion one of the largest evacuations in Australian history. Thousands have already fled atrisk coastal areas, creating traffic gridlock in places, and firefighters escorted convoys of evacuees as fires threatened to close roads.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrew declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state, allowing the Government to order evacuations in an area with as many as 140,000 permanent residents and tens of thousands more holidaymakers.
“If you can leave, you must leave,” Andrews said.
South Australia state’s Country Fire Service chief officer, Mark Jones, said the weather was cause for concern because some fires were still burning or smouldering.
“The ignition sources are already there,” he said. “There are millions of sparks out there ready to go if they break containment lines.”
The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has made this season the worst on record. About 5 million hectares of land have burned, at least 19 people have been killed, and more than 1400 homes destroyed.
This week, at least 448 homes have been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast and dozens were burned in Victoria. Ten deaths have been confirmed in the two states this week, and Victoria authorities also say 28 people are missing. Fires are also burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
The Navy evacuated hundreds from the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota, which has been cut off for days by fires, forcing as many as 4000 residents and tourists to shelter on beaches. Landing craft ferried people to the HMAS Choules offshore.
Choules Commander Scott
Houlihan said 963 people had signed up for evacuation by sea and more had been airlifted to safety.
A state of emergency was in place in New South Wales.
State Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said strong winds and high temperatures today will make the fire danger worse in many areas and urged those who can flee to do so.
“We know people have got a little bit of fire fatigue. They’ve been dealing with this now for months,” Rogers said. “But we need people to stay focused.
We need people to stay focused. Tomorrow is not the day to drop your guard.
Rob Rogers
Tomorrow is not the day to drop your guard. Take it seriously. ”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Victorian town of Bairnsdale and received a warmer welcome than in New South Wales.
Morrison cut short a visit to the town of Cobargo when locals yelled at him, made obscene gestures and called him an “idiot” and worse, criticising him for the lack of equipment to deal with the fires in town.
In a radio interview yesterday, Morrison said he understood the anger of people affected by the fires.
“People are angry and people are raw and people are upset,” he said. “Whether they are angry with me or they are angry about the situation, all I know is they are hurting and it’s my job to be there to try and offer some comfort and support.”
Smoke from the wildfires has choked air quality and turned daytime skies to near-night-time darkness in the worst-hit areas.
It’s also blown across the Tasman Sea into New Zealand and discoloured glaciers, which may cause more melting.
The Australian bush fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and cost at least 18 lives — and many people are still missing. The catastrophe may yet take the biggest political scalp of all — Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
His leadership during the crisis has been roundly condemned. He was in Hawaii when the fires took hold last month and had to apologise when he sped home, but many Australians remain incensed at what they see as government neglect.
The costs of inaction — now revealed by vast swaths of the country reduced to smoking ruin — may yet roll up to his doorstep at the edge of Sydney Harbour, where, in yet another political misstep, he this week held court with the New Zealand and Australian cricket teams while volunteer fire crews toiled.
On Thursday he was left red-faced after he was refused a handshake by a heroic fireman who lost his home while battling bushfires in one of Australia’s worst hit areas.
The embarrassing moment was caught by watching camera crews who filmed as the Australian leader walked over to the fireman who was having a break in the emergency centre in Cobargo, on the New South Wales South Coast.
The Prime Minister can be seen trying to shake the fireman’s hand. However, the man only looks at Morrison’s hand before shaking his head.
“I don’t really want to shake your hand,” the fireman says.
Morrison then leans down to grab the fireman’s hand but he again refuses. The prime minister then walks away — patting the man’s shoulder as he leaves.
“Oh, well. Nice to see you,”’ Morrison can be heard saying.
Morrison was later heard telling a fire official: “Tell that fella I’m really sorry, I’m sure he’s just tired.”
“No, no, he’s lost a house,” the incident controller tells him.
The stunning scenes come shortly after Morrison was abused by Cobargo residents who told him he “should be ashamed of himself ” while others called him “Scum-mo” for “leaving the country to burn.”.
One local refused to shake Morrison’s hand until he offered more support to volunteer firefighters
Cobargo is one of the areas worst affected town’s ravaged by the crisis.
The small town lost its entire main street, a beloved father and son were killed, and dozens of homes were destroyed as the fire front swept through on New Year’s Eve.
“I’m only shaking your hand if you give more funding to our RFS (Rural Fire Service),” the woman said.
Instead, Morrison picked up her hand and shook it, before turning his back on her mid-sentence and moving on to another person.
“So many people have lost their homes,” the woman said, while holding back tears.
She was consoled by another man as Morrison walked away. She shouted after him saying: “We need more help.”
“You control the funding, and we were forgotten,” a woman in a Led Zeppelin T-shirt walking a goat shouted at Morrison.
“You won’t be getting any votes down here, buddy,” promised an angry man. “No Liberal [Party] votes. You’re out, son. You are out.”
As Morrison headed to his car, one Cobargo resident had the final say.
“You’re not welcome here,” he shouted in the video, calling the prime minister an expletive.
In response to the heckling, Morrison later told Australia’s ABC news: “I understand the very strong feelings people have.”
“They’ve lost everything, and there are still some very dangerous days ahead,” he said. “My job is to ensure that we steady things through these very difficult days and support the states in the response that they are providing.”
Footage of the incident was described as “disturbing” on social media.
“What is most disturbing about this extraordinary video is our PM forcing a young, clearly distressed woman to shake his hand followed by another male putting his arms around her telling her to ‘shush’,” one woman wrote.
Scenes such as these have prompted a moment of political reckoning in Australia. Images of destroyed buildings beneath apocalyptic red-orange skies have not played well for the country’s conservative, coalsupporting prime minister. Yesterday he came under attack from a state politician from his own party.
NSW Coalition Minister Andrew Constance said “locals gave him the welcome he probably deserved”.
Morrison has called on Australians to be patient and rebuffed criticisms that his government hasn’t done enough to reduce emissions.
“Morrison is firmly part of Liberal Party politicians who are outright opposed to taking any steps that could compromise Australia’s coal economy,” said Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science and environmental politics at the University of California, who is writing a book on Australia’s climate politics. “He’s opposed to climate reforms and committed to the fossil fuels economy.”
In November, Morrison pledged to outlaw climate protests, saying that they disrupted the economy.
Just before heading off on his illtimed Hawaii holiday, Morrison’s government announced plans to underwrite two gas-fired power stations. But he also didn’t rule out new coalfired power plants.
Morrison’s Liberal party did notably well in Queensland, where there’s a controversial plan to build one of the world’s largest coal mines.
A 2019 study by Sydney University found that 78 per cent of Australians support reducing fossil fuels and 64 per cent approve of higher taxes to do so. Even 62 per cent of those who voted for Morrison said they back fossil fuel reductions, and 48 per cent support raising taxes.
The bush fires are one of several environmental crises — including the bleaching of the country’s Great Barrier Reef and an ongoing drought — currently facing Australians. Washington Post, Daily Mail Australia, RNZ