Fire conditions eased on some of the major fronts burning across Australia on Sunday after a cool weather change, with firefighters trying to contain blazes before the expected return of hotter conditions at the end of the week.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters in Sydney, after returning on Saturday night from a holiday in Hawaii that drew sharp criticism as the wildfires crisis in his home state deepened.
After the deaths of two firefighters Thursday night, Morrison announced he would return home early, and on Sunday he acknowledged his holiday had caused anxiety.
“I get it that people would have been upset to know that I was holidaying with my family while their families were under great stress,” Morrison said.
He also addressed his conservative Liberal-National coalition’s climate policies, which his government has been forced to defend following the severity of this year’s bushfires. Morrison said there was no argument that there is a link between climate change and weather events around the world.
“But I’m sure people would equally acknowledge the direct connection to any single fire event is not a credible suggestion to make that link,” Morrison told journalists.
Earlier this month, Australia drew criticism at a U.N. climate summit in Madrid for its climate-change policy of using old carbon credits to count toward future emissions targets.
Australia is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters per capita because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants. It has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 26% from 2005 levels by 2030, but critics accuse Morrison of paying lip service to that commitment.
Morrison recommitted to those policies, which he took to a general election in May, on Sunday.
