Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Scott Morrison, saying he failed to show leadership during the bushfire crisis.
Mr Turnbull said the prime minister misled Australians by downplaying the influence of global warming and climate change.
‘Everybody knew we were in a very dry time and as a consequence the fire season was likely to be very bad,’ he told the BBC.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison and MP Darren Chester visit a resident’s property in an area devastated by bushfires in Sarsfield
‘So rather than doing what a leader should do and preparing people for that, he downplayed it and then, of course, chose to go away on holiday in Hawaii.
‘At the peak of the crisis? I just can’t explain any of that. It’s just not consistent with the way in which a prime minister would or should act.’
Mr Turnbull, who was ousted from leadership and replaced by Mr Morrison in 2018, said he could not explain the current Liberal leader’s behaviour.
Despite working closely with Mr Morrison and knowing him for 20 years, he said he ‘did not know why Scott Morrison has acted the way he has’.
‘I can’t explain why he didn’t meet the former fire commissioners who wanted to see him in March last year to talk about the gravity of the threat,’ he said.
Mr Morrison has come under heavy criticism over the past month for his handling of Australia’s unprecedented bushfire season, which have killed almost 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits the Defence Staging Ground at Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island on January 8
Mr Turnbull, who was ousted from leadership and replaced by Mr Morrison in 2018, said he could not explain the current Liberal leader’s behaviour (pictured in Victoria on January 3)
Mr Turnbull said the prime minister had misled Australians by downplaying the influence of global warming and climate change
He faced criticism for not acting quick enough to bolster the nation’s firefighting capabilities, and for going on holiday to Hawaii during the crisis.
The disaster has bolstered the climate change debate and the government has been criticised for not taking more action.
O Monday Karl Stefanovic also slammed Mr Morrison during a live fiery interview on the Today Show in which the host accused the prime minister not doing enough to tackle climate change.
Mr Morrison outlined new policies to support bushfire victims, including zero-interest loans for small businesses, but Stefanovic swiftly brought up global warming.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks at fire-damaged properties at Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island on January 8
Stefanovic told the PM: ‘I think there is a perception, right or wrong, that you aren’t leading the country on climate change’
He said: ‘The country has been burning. We now have floods. We now have these horrific dust storms. Homes have been lost. We’ve lost lives. And the country is grieving. Farmers are shooting their own cattle.
‘I think there is a perception, right or wrong, that you aren’t leading the country on climate change.’
The host continued: ‘People aren’t satisfied with what you are doing. Are you not concerned in any way, shape or form, that you are out of step with what everyday Australians are thinking and feeling during this crisis? And it is a crisis.’
Mr Morrison acknowledged that summers are ‘longer drier and hotter’ than ever before but insisted he was taking action on climate change.
Mr Morrison greets troops as he visits an army water purification station at Kingscote Jetty on Kangaroo Island
‘We will beat the Kyoto targets and meet and beat the Paris agreements… We will reduce our carbon emissions per capita by half between now and 2030,’ he said.
‘We are leading the world on renewable investments in technology and energy in this country. These are the facts Karl.’
He suggested the state governments need to do more to stop bushfires by way of hazard reduction.
The topic of hazard reduction has been a contentious one, held up by climate sceptics on the right of Liberal Party and in the National Party as a major cause of the bushfire crisis.
Mr Morrison also said reports that some of his ministers want him to do more on climate change are a ‘beat-up’.