Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Crisis can bring about the best in people, and indeed it has brought out the best in our communities this summer. But sadly it has also brought out the worst in the Prime Minister of Australia. What we needed during this bushfire and climate disaster was courageous, truthful and wise leadership. What we got from the Prime Minister and this government was the exact opposite. They have been cowardly, dishonest and incompetent. Full of science deniers, they have behaved like a bunch of climate criminals, with 'Scotty from marketing' at their head.

Even before he fled to Hawaii, the Prime Minister showed himself completely incapable of any sort of leadership. He refused to give payments to volunteer firefighters until he was dragged to the table. He refused to meet with former emergency services chiefs who were trying to warn him about this impending disaster. He refused to acknowledge that the climate crisis had made bushfires more frequent and more intense. Instead, he sent his ministers off to block global climate action in Madrid. He put a misogynistic, climate-denying MP on international television. He behaved pathetically in the community, forcing people to shake his hand and running away from the criticism he well—