Opinion Matrix: A mighty reckoning awaits Aussie PM
Friday’s opinion columns examined the catastrophic Australian bushfires, the travesty of the Cyprus rape case victim and Venezuela’s refugee crisis.
The Guardian
The newspaper honed in on the devastating fires sweeping much of Australia , saying they “defy the imagination”.
“The signs of new and dangerous times are unmistakable. With another wave of unbearable heat expected this weekend, the biggest-ever population exodus is under way from New South Wales, where residents have been told their homes will be ‘undefendable’ in the days to come.
“In neighbouring Victoria, a state of disaster has been announced, permitting formal evacuation orders to be issued.
“The army and navy have been deployed to transport residents from affected areas, at risk of further devastation with temperatures forecast to reach the mid-40s celsius by tomorrow.
“The trail of destruction, which has so far led to the loss of 18 lives, has been facilitated by a combination of searing heat, strong winds and a recordbreaking three years’ of drought, which left soil moisture at historic lows.
“This is a national catastrophe. It must be hoped that the courage, skill and fortitude of local residents, emergency services and the armed forces can mitigate the ongoing disaster.
“With most of the summer still to come, it will almost certainly be many weeks before the worst is over. But when respite comes, so will a mighty reckoning for Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and his Liberal-led coalition government.”
The Times
The paper’s leader called the fires “biblical” and the toll on the natural world “almost beggars belief”.
“Scientists at the University of Sydney believe it likely that half a billion animals have died, including about a third of the state’s koala bears.
“Scott Morrison, the Liberal prime minister, has not been having a good crisis. Before Christmas, with fires already raging, he was criticised for taking a family holiday to Hawaii. “I don’t hold a hose, mate,” he retorted.
“Since cutting short his vacation, he has been both
defensive and tone deaf, at one point likening the challenge of the fires to that of the Australia-new Zealand Test match.
“A long-term champion of Australia’s fossil fuel industry and an outspoken defender of coal, he has insisted that “it’s not a credible suggestion” to make a link between climate change and the fires.”
Daily Mail
The newspaper called the conviction of a 19-year-old in Cyprus “deeply troubling”.
“Disquieting details emerged yesterday of the confession the girl made to police, allegedly
voluntarily and in her own words.
“She claims it was done under extreme duress, with an overbearing detective dictating what she should write.
“There certainly is some weight to this. The statement appears stilted, and not in the sort of language a well-educated English girl would normally use.
“A linguistic expert called during the trial appeared to back her up, saying the statement was ‘highly likely’ to have been devised by someone for whom English was not a first language. Yet the judge, openly hostile, dismissed this and other defence evidence as ‘unreliable’.
“One thing is certain, however. Her arrest, interrogation and trial on ‘public mischief’ charges raise many disturbing questions. In this country, the case would have struggled to get past the first preliminary hearing.”
Financial Times
The leader column concentrated on the failure of the international community to provide aid to millions of displaced South Americans.
“The seriousness of the situation is not in dispute. Around 4.8m Venezuelans had fled their country as of early December and the exodus is expected to exceed 6.5m by the end of 2020, putting it on the same scale of displacement as Syria.
“The Venezuelan refugees are escaping hunger, repression and disease, all of which have reached intolerable levels under the brutal revolutionary socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro.
“Most of the burden of caring for Venezuela’s refugees has fallen on other Latin American nations. Neighbouring Colombia deserves special praise for its courageous response to the 1.6m Venezuelans who now live there.”