Big Weather And Small Men

"Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is coal! Don't be afraid, don't be scared, won't hurt you, it's coal!"

That's Scott Morrison in parliament in 2017, brandishing a chunk of lacquered coal, given to him by his beloved organ-grinder, The Minerals Council. In his speech, Morrison went on to praise the "prosperity" delivered by his pet rock, and to dismiss attempts to enact science-based climate-policy as simply "pathological...coal-a-phobia". Seated behind him, Barnaby Joyce laughed with the joy of a particularly thick-headed child as he fondled the prop.

One month after this performance, Lismore flooded.

At that point it was the most destructive flood the town had ever had.

In 2008 the Garnaut Climate Change Review examined the scientific studies outlining climate impacts on Australia, and concluded in part that without concerted action the nation would be facing longer and more intense fire seasons - by 2020.

Right on time in 2019/20, an estimated 3 billion animals were incinerated in the Black Summer bushfire disaster. More than 24 million hectares burned. Over 9000 buildings were lost. 34 people were killed in the fires, and 445 died of smoke inhalation. According to evidence presented at the Royal Commission, 3000 people were admitted to hospital for respiratory issues.

(A few months before the fires, Minerals Council CEO Brendan Pearson - the man who'd provided the parliamentary coal - actually went to work in the office of the Prime Minister, as a "senior advisor". There Pearson joined former Minerals Council deputy CEO, John Kunkel - Morrison's Chief of Staff. No coal-a-phobia in that office.)

Last week, the new IPCC report specifically warned Australia that much worse is coming - climate impacts will compound one another, and extreme events cross-over. This country is on the frontline for mega-fires, widespread floods, drought, heatwaves, super-storms, and sea-level rise.

Scott Morrison didn't even bother responding to the report.

When Morrison sang the praises of coal in 2017, he was denying the disasters that had already happened, and reconfirming his party's refusal to act on all the warnings of the calamity ahead. 2017 was also the year that, as Treasurer, Morrison axed Australia’s National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. When the facts contradict Scott Morrison's world-view - or interrupt his income-stream - his approach is always to silence or smear those responsible for bringing the information to the public's attention.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change advises that a national climate risk assessment and climate adaptation plan are necessities. Australia is still without either. And we continue to have no genuine emissions-reduction policies.

The present flooding in Qld and NSW has killed 21 people so far. Thousands of homes have been lost, and untold damage done to the natural environment. The rain is still coming down, with an intensity and duration never before seen - but most certainly warned of.

The nation has been left vulnerable and unprepared - on purpose - so a coterie of dull-witted swindlers can pretend everything's fine, and sweat the last dollars from a dying industry. "Won't hurt you"? That's true neither of the black rock itself nor the black-hearts clutching it. For the latter, if there's the promise of a payday or the prospect of any short-term personal advantage, they'll leave you homeless, drown you, or burn you to death - and think absolutely nothing of it.