Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday cut short a Hawaii vacation following a barrage of criticism for taking time off while his country battles an unprecedented bushfire crisis.
Morrison expressed regret for the family trip as two volunteer firefighters were killed and a record heat wave exacerbated dozens of out-of-control blazes.
Pressure had been piling on Morrison over his vacation this week, as thousands of exhausted volunteer firefighters battled blazes across the country and millions of people in Sydney choked on toxic smoke.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I deeply regret any offense caused to any of the many Australians affected by the terrible bushfires by my taking leave with family at this time,” Morrison said in a statement.
He added that he would be returning to Australia as soon as possible “given the most recent tragic events,” referring to the deaths of the two firefighters.
Geoffrey Keating, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, died when a tree damaged their truck on Thursday as they battled out-of-control blazes south of Sydney.
Three other firefighters in the vehicle survived with minor injuries.
Criticism of Morrison’s absence has been widespread, sparking street protests and a flood of angry social media posts demanding #WhereIsScomo.
The situation was worsened by the prime minister’s office initially refusing to confirm his whereabouts.
“We are seeing an absolute lack of leadership from this government and it is a disgrace,” Leighton Drury, a firefighters’ union leader, said of Morrison’s absence. “Where the bloody hell are you?”
New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that firefighters everywhere were grieving the “huge loss” of the two young fathers who were caught in “the worst imaginable set of circumstances.”
“[They] simply went out, doing a remarkable job, like all their colleagues, and like they have done year-in, year-out, and to not be coming home after their shift is a tremendous grief,” he said.
The fire that they were battling was still out of control yesterday, leaving no time for their colleagues to grieve.
Fires are burning almost the entire length of Australia’s east coast, with more than 100 blazes in New South Wales alone.
A state of emergency was on Thursday declared in the country’s most populous state because of the “catastrophic” conditions.
Yesterday, the crisis spread to South Australia, where firefighters warned of “very dangerous” conditions as they fought a fire that had engulfed a vineyard in the Adelaide Hills.
At least 3 million hectares of land have been torched across the country in the past several months, with eight people killed and more than 800 homes destroyed.
Australia endures bushfires every year, but they began particularly early this season, have lasted longer and have been far more intense.
Scientists have attributed this in part to global warming, although Morrison’s conservative government has been reluctant to link the fires with climate change.
A series of record temperatures this week has further raised the alarm about global warming, as well as worsened the bushfire crisis.
Australia on Wednesday endured a record national average maximum temperature of 41.9°C, a full degree higher than the previous record set just one day earlier.
Until this week, the record high had been 40.3°C in January 2013.
In some parts of Australia the temperature neared 50°C, but a change in weather today is expected to see maximum temperatures drop by 20°C in the south of the country.
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