Better make sure that Canberra bubble is fire and smoke-proof

Matt Kean, the Energy and Environment Minister in the NSW Liberal government, has no hair and was educated at an elite Jesuit private school, and in these respects he is an unlikely Greta Thunberg.

Liberal minister Matt Kean says we need to "look at the causes of these
 bushfires so we can avoid this bushfire season repeating itself in the future.
That includes addressing climate change."

But in the past week he was the closest thing we could claim to an environmental hero. Yes, he used to be a manager at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, but in the context of the Coalition in 2019, he is a beret-sporting radical.

All week, as the nation was engulfed literally with flames, our politicians gave interviews where they attempted to nod gravely about the bushfires while also refusing to acknowledge any link to climate change. Kind of like the way a toddler “hides” by closing her own eyes, except it wasn’t cute.

Early in the week Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke about the fires but said that volunteer firefighters didn’t need further assistance because “they want to be there” – a misjudgment of the mood and an inadequate response, even if he did later announce more firefighting funding.

Read the story from The Age by Jacqueline Maley - “Better make sure that Canberra bubble is fire and smoke-proof.”