Scott Morrison calls for a royal commission into Australia’s bushfire crisis 

Scott Morrison has called for a royal commission into the bushfire crisis following worldwide protests demanding government action on climate change. 

Details of the inquiry would be put to the premiers and federal cabinet in coming weeks, the prime minister said on Sunday. 

‘I think Australians have a very reasonable expectation that any commission of inquiry, royal commission, would need to cover the full gamut of issues.’

Facing criticism that federal authorities sat on their hands earlier in the bushfire season, Mr Morrison said his government had acted on all recommendations put to it.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said details of the royal commission into the bushfire crisis  would be put to the premiers and federal cabinet in coming weeks

The announcement comes as thousands took to the streets to protest the government's alleged lack of action on climate change. Pictured: Three women hold placards demanding action in a rally in Sydney on Friday

The announcement comes as thousands took to the streets to protest the government’s alleged lack of action on climate change. Pictured: Three women hold placards demanding action in a rally in Sydney on Friday  

Catastrophic: The current bushfire season in Australia has so far claimed 25 lives, destroyed 2,000 homes and killed close to a billion animals

Catastrophic: The current bushfire season in Australia has so far claimed 25 lives, destroyed 2,000 homes and killed close to a billion animals

He said the government’s climate policy would continue to ‘evolve’, including its emissions target, and adaptation and resilience measures.

This work would include looking at building more dams, native vegetation and land clearing rules and ensuring homes are built in areas where climate risk has been assessed. 

Furious protesters across the globe took aim at Mr Morrison’s handling of the disaster, which has claimed the lives 26 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. 

Activists from Europe to South America flooded to the streets to demand action on climate change on Friday amid a relentless bushfire season.

More than one billion animals are thought to have perished and at least eight million hectares have been scorched.

Many held signs and banners calling for the prime minister to be sacked. Pictured: protesters in Sydney

Many held signs and banners calling for the prime minister to be sacked. Pictured: protesters in Sydney 

Thousands of protesters braved the wet weather as they marched through the Melbourne CBD

Thousands of protesters braved the wet weather as they marched through the Melbourne CBD

Thousands of protesters in London, Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Stockholm displayed posters in support of Australia and the victims of the catastrophic blazes.

Face paint was used at the rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where demonstrators dressed as koalas and displayed scorched kangaroos on their cheeks.

Traffic came to a halt in London as Extinction Rebellion protesters, dressed in red or in animal costumes, gathered outside the Australian High Commission.

The notorious activist group are focusing on the ‘betrayal’ of the Australian government in their failures to protect the nation from the fires.

Meanwhile, demonstrations were in full swing in central Melbourne and Sydney, with many calling for the Mr Morrison to be sacked.  

Despite pleas from Victorian police and the premier to reschedule the Melbourne event to a less risky fire day, several thousand protesters huddled under umbrellas at the State Library.

Many held banners which read ‘Time is Running Out,’ ‘Declare a Climate Emergency,’ ‘You have blood on your hands, Morrison,’ ‘Make Fossil Fuels History,’ and ‘Sack ScoMo.’

Activists for climate action dance as they walk along Bent Street in Sydney's CBD

 Activists for climate action dance as they walk along Bent Street in Sydney’s CBD

Hundreds of activists from Extinction Rebellion stage a protest outside the Australian Embassy in London

Hundreds of activists from Extinction Rebellion stage a protest outside the Australian Embassy in London

More than 30,000 people rallied at Town Hall Square in Sydney with similar banners.

Protesters in both cities chanted ‘ScoMo has got to go’ while Sydney protesters also yelled ‘the liar from the shire our country is on fire.’

Sydney protester Ambrose Hayes, 14, said people were ‘fed up’ with Mr Morrison because he’s not acting enough on the ‘climate crisis’.

‘This is caused by climate change, there is no denying it and they’re (the government) just letting it happen,’ he said.

‘They’re not listening to us.’

Izzy Raj-Seppings, the 13-year-old who made headlines when she was moved on by police during a climate protest outside Kirribilli House in December, called on Mr Morrison to step up.

‘What have you done when your country burns? What have you done when the kids are crying?,’ she said on Friday.

Hundreds of protesters also rallied in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Mr Morrison has faced weeks of criticism – starting with his decision to take his family on a holiday to Hawaii and flowing through to his fire-ground visits during which he was met with anger and frustration.

The latest plank in the federal response is a $76million mental health plan to provide support to firefighters and residents in affected communities. 

Mr Morrison flagged the commission as he conceded there were things he could have handled better at a personal level. 

‘There are things I could have handled on the ground much better,’ he told ABC TV on Sunday.

‘These are sensitive, emotional environments.

Mr Morrison, pictured with Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud on Friday, said his government is responding to an unprecedented wildfire crisis with an unprecedented level of support

Mr Morrison, pictured with Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud on Friday, said his government is responding to an unprecedented wildfire crisis with an unprecedented level of support

‘Prime ministers are flesh and blood too in how they engage with these people.

‘When I went there I went there in good faith, with Jenny on occasions, to provide what consolation I could. They’re very strained environments … you would do things differently and learn from every event but the important thing is the actions we have taken.’

He said in hindsight he would not have taken his family for a holiday to Hawaii, despite being defensive about it in a radio interview at the time.

His original intention was to holiday, as was routine for his family, on the NSW south coast.

‘One of the great difficulties in any job … is balancing your work and family responsibilities,’ he said.

Mr Morrison said the scale of the bushfires was ‘unprecedented’ and had created a situation in which Australians were demanding a greater response from the federal government than had been provided in the past.

‘That was not something that was recommended going into this fire season,’ he said.

‘There is a very new appetite, a very new expectation.’

Meeting this new expectation could require federal legislation and new agreements with state and territory governments. 

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