He wanted to spend time with his children, but he should have had other priorities: Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has admitted mistakes in dealing with the devastating bush fires in his country. "I apologize," Morrison said on a visit to the New South Wales Fire Department headquarters in Sydney on Sunday.
The prime minister had come under pressure because he was on vacation in Hawaii despite the fires. In response to the massive criticism, he canceled his family vacation on Friday and returned to Australia.
In retrospect, he was wrong, Morrison said. He learned his lessons from it. At the same time, he campaigned for understanding that he wanted to keep a promise to his children on vacation. As Prime Minister, he admitted that he had other duties.
Morrison said on Friday: "I deeply regret that vacationing with my family during this time has caused trouble for many Australians affected by the terrible bushfires." Then he went home.
Praise to the fire department
But the holiday was not the only issue for which the prime minister had to take criticism. Most recently, he had refused to consider compensation for the many volunteer firefighters. On Thursday, two firefighters had died fighting the bush fires that had been raging for weeks. Now Morrison praised the use of the fire brigade, which is fighting tirelessly against the flames.
Last Thursday, numerous climate activists came for a protest to the Prime Minister's home, the Kirribilli House in Sydney. A policeman threatened a 13-year-old with arrest, "if necessary with violence". The scene is causing a stir in Australia. (Read more about the case here.)
Since the exceptionally early start of this year's bush fire season in September, at least three million hectares of land have burned down. This corresponds to the area of Belgium. So far, at least ten people have been killed nationwide in a row by fire. More than 800 houses were destroyed.
Video: Sydney sinks into the smoke
Rick Rycroft / AP
Morrison and his party have a policy that does little to combat the climate crisis. Climate change is not the immediate cause of bushfires in Australia. But researchers have long predicted that a hotter and drier climate would result in more frequent and more intense bush fires. In the outskirts of Sydney, the state capital, up to 47 degrees were expected over the weekend. The air quality in the metropolis suffers massively from the fires.
