SYDNEY • Facing angry street protests and mounting political pressure, Australia's Prime Minister yesterday broke a long silence to acknowledge "troubling" bush fire smoke that has engulfed his native Sydney for more than a month.
"I've lived all my life, pretty much, in Sydney and the haze that has come from those fires, I know, has been deeply troubling to Sydneysiders," Mr Scott Morrison said, ending weeks of studied silence.
On Wednesday, up to 20,000 people - many wearing face masks - marched in Sydney, demanding Mr Morrison address the crisis that has caused health problems to spike and forced residents indoors.
Hours later, the conservative leader insisted that he understood the concerns of greater Sydney's five million residents, who have been coughing and spluttering through thick smoke off-and-on since October.
"I know how unusual it is to see that haze across my city. And I know how distressing that has been, particularly for young people, who wouldn't have seen that before," he said.
He also made a rare admission that climate change is one of the "factors" causing unprecedented bush fires that have destroyed millions of hectares of land and more than 700 homes, as well as caused toxic smoke to envelop Australia's largest city.
"The dryness of the bush is the biggest factor," he said noting a long drought in some areas. "And we all know climate change, along with many other factors, contributes to what is occurring today."
Until now, Mr Morrison's public comments have focused almost exclusively on solidarity with the sparsely populated rural communities hit directly by the fires.
A recent poll by Essential Research showed Mr Morrison's disapproval rating had risen from 36 per cent in September - when the bush fire crisis began in earnest - to 43 per cent today.
Climate is a vexed political issue for Mr Morrison's Liberal Party. While he once jokingly paraded on the floor of Parliament with a lump of coal to show it was not harmful, former leader Malcolm Turnbull has broken ranks to demand that the party embrace renewable energy and show more leadership.
Any move to significantly reduce Australia's carbon emissions or curb coal exports could damage Mr Morrison in conservative-voting mining communities, split his party and risk tipping a fragile economy into crisis.
Australia's lucrative mining industry accounted for more than 70 per cent of exports and was worth a record A$264 billion (S$247 billion) in the last financial year.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
