Australian natural disasters minister's complete about face: 'I believe in climate science’

David Littleproud now says he
accepts the science on manmade
 climate change after telling the
Guardian: ‘I don’t know if climate
 change is man-made.’

Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, now says he accepts the science on manmade climate change, and “[I] always have”.

Littleproud’s comments to the House of Representatives on Thursday were entirely at odds with a written statement he made to Guardian Australia on Tuesday. In response to questions, Littleproud said: “I don’t know if climate change is man-made.”

“I’m about practical outcomes, whether that’s about having a cleaner environment or giving farmers and emergency services the right tools to adapt,” the minister said in that statement. “I am responsible for making sure we have the tools we need to adapt to a changing climate.”

Guardian Australia approached Littleproud to clarify his position after comments he made to the ABC at the start of the week about the relationship between early spring bushfires in Queensland and climate change.

Read the story from The Guardian by Katharine Murphy and Paul Karp - “Australian natural disasters minister's complete about face: 'I believe in climate science’.”

Australian natural disasters minister David Littleproud: 'I don't know if climate change is manmade'

Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”.

David Littleproud, the federal minister for water resources, drought,
 natural disaster and emergency management, says he is unsure
about the causes of the climate crisis.

Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to intensifying bushfires, he told Guardian Australia he was unsure about the causes of the climate crisis but wanted to give the country the tools to adapt.

The remarks by the minister for water resources, drought, natural disaster and emergency management are likely to anger political opponents, including the Greens who have targeted Littleproud and fellow members of the National party for refusing to acknowledge a link between human-induced climate change and bushfires.

Littleproud’s position was supported by the Nationals deputy leader, Bridget McKenzie, the minister for resources and northern Australia, Matt Canavan, and the environment minister, Sussan Ley, all of who denied knowledge of or downplayed the link.

Read the story from The Guardian by Paul Karp - “Australian natural disasters minister David Littleproud: 'I don't know if climate change is manmade'.”