michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today: The prime minister of Australia is calling for a high-level investigation into how the country’s government has responded to the devastating wildfires there. My colleague Livia Albeck-Ripka on the events that led up to this moment. It’s Monday, January 13. Livia, you’re on the ground in Australia, covering these wildfires that have been raging throughout the continent. What have you been seeing these past few weeks?

livia albeck-ripka

So the scenes that are unfolding here in Australia are totally unprecedented. We do have bushfires here in Australia, but what we’re seeing now has not happened before.

archived recording It’s been labeled the worst fire season ever recorded, an apocalypse, a nightmare, and like looking into the gates of hell.

livia albeck-ripka

This has been the hottest and driest year on record in Australia.

archived recording Several bushfires burning outside of Sydney have combined into what’s being called a mega-blaze.

livia albeck-ripka

It’s not really one large fire but hundreds if not thousands of smaller fires that started across various states, along the southeastern coast of Australia. They traveled down the coast, just becoming more immense and ferocious.

archived recording Officials Friday warned the bushfire was too big to put out. There are over 100 fires burning in the state.

livia albeck-ripka

And so these fires have created smog and smoke haze.

archived recording Sydney’s skyline is renowned for being one of the most beautiful in the world, but it was far from its best today.

livia albeck-ripka

You probably saw images of the harbor totally covered in smoke.

archived recording That iconic Sydney harbor view that we all know and love virtually made invisible by this thick smoke haze.

livia albeck-ripka

In Canberra, the air pollution was recorded as the worst in the world. Worst than Delhi, even.

archived recording Pollution’s levels in some parts more than 17 times above hazardous levels, while major landmarks, including Parliament House, are barely visible through the smoke.

livia albeck-ripka

And some estimates put these fires at more than eight times larger than those in California that wiped out the town of Paradise.

michael barbaro

Wow.

archived recording Emergency officials warn that for some communities, if they wait too long, they might not be able to get out.

livia albeck-ripka

They’ve destroyed nearly 2,000 homes at this point.

archived recording 1 Residents are coming to terms with shattered livelihoods. archived recording 2 The amount of work that was put into this place to make it the home it is, and then to lose it in one night to the fire — archived recording 3 Nationally, 28 people have lost their lives.

livia albeck-ripka

Thousands of people have had to evacuate their homes and are camping in these relief centers. They don’t know if their homes are standing or not standing.

archived recording It is now estimated that over one billion animals have been lost in wildfires burning out of control in Australia. Those that are still out in the wild are desperate for water. Volunteers are stepping in, helping any way they can.

livia albeck-ripka

So beyond the scale, what is so unique about these fires is they’re threatening an entire ecosystem. By some accounts, they’ve already wiped out at least half a billion animals.

michael barbaro

I have to say that the scale of that is hard to fathom. So how is that possible?

livia albeck-ripka

So what you have to understand about Australia is that we have this incredibly unique ecosystem. There are hundreds of species of animals that are endemic, so only found in Australia, which include koalas, kangaroos, possums, wallabies, cockatoos, and many other types of bugs and other species. And increasingly, as we’ve built up the landscape, they’ve been pushed into these dense parts of bush. And that’s what’s burning.

michael barbaro

Hm.

livia albeck-ripka

And what that means is that entire species of some of these animals could be wiped out in what some ecologists have described as a kind of biological armageddon.

archived recording In Australia over the past few weeks, hundreds of koalas have been killed and large swaths of their habitat destroyed by raging bushfires.

livia albeck-ripka

We’re seeing images of singed koalas, dehydrated koalas and kangaroos emerging from the bush.

archived recording Scores of people doing their best to rescue as many kangaroos, koalas and other animals from the charred landscape.

livia albeck-ripka

So one thing I was really interested in finding was someone who was coming face to face with this massive destruction of Australia’s ecosystem.

speaker This is Susie. susan pulis Nice to meet you. speaker Livia. livia albeck-ripka Hi, we met briefly —

livia albeck-ripka

So last week, I drove out to Raymond Island in the southeastern part of the country to meet a woman named Susan Pulis, who’s been going to great lengths to save these animals whose lives and habitats are being destroyed. And I show up to this house on the island. Susie’s staying at a friend’s place. The house is in disarray. Her daughter’s there. Her friend’s there. There’s a lot of things going on, kind of a manic energy. And there’s this smell of hay and animals. And I go in and have a look in the living room, and there are all these joeys, baby kangaroos.

livia albeck-ripka Have you ever had joeys in your living room before? susan pulis Never. No, this is a first.

livia albeck-ripka

There’s blankets and hay on the floor. And so we’re sitting in this living room with kangaroos.

michael barbaro

Huh.

livia albeck-ripka

One of them is poking its head out and having a look around.

michael barbaro

[CHUCKLING]

livia albeck-ripka So the first one that you fed here. susan pulis That’s Pluto, and this is Reilly. And so he’s about eight months.

michael barbaro

I mean, so that’s obviously not these animals’ natural habitat. So how did they end up in this living room?

livia albeck-ripka

Right, so they normally live at a wildlife shelter that Susie runs, which is about 30 miles inland, in the bush. Because what Susie does for a living is she rehabilitates and releases animals that have been orphaned or injured back into the wild.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

livia albeck-ripka

And she starts to tell us the story of these fires.

susan pulis Evacuating the animals was certainly challenging at the time, because we knew the fire was burning.

livia albeck-ripka

A few weeks ago, she starts hearing that this bushfire is approaching her house. It’s getting closer and closer. But it’s not so close that the authorities are telling her to evacuate.

susan pulis They said it would be O.K. to stay the night and go the next morning.

livia albeck-ripka

And then Susie and her daughter, who is 11, are outside, and they look at the horizon, and they see this weird orange glow.

susan pulis And at that point, we were standing out there, and you could see the glow right around the whole ridge.

livia albeck-ripka

Her daughter asks her, is that the fire?

susan pulis Lily made a comment to say, “Mum, is that the fire? Is the fire there?” And I said, “No, no.”

livia albeck-ripka

And Susie says, no, no, no. That would be way too close.

michael barbaro

Hm.

livia albeck-ripka

So they go back into the house. They start getting ready for bed. And then Susie gets a call. It’s the C.F.A., which is the state fire authority.

susan pulis I got a phone call at 1:30 in the morning from the C.F.A. to tell me shit’s happening.

livia albeck-ripka

And they tell her the fire is approaching.

susan pulis You either stay now and bunker down for this big fire front, or you’re gonna have to go now.

livia albeck-ripka

And that’s when it clicks. That red glow she saw, it was the fire.

susan pulis So we were just like, whoa. Then next I ran and starting evacuating animals.

livia albeck-ripka

They wrapped the kangaroos in blankets, put the koalas in baskets, put the chickens in boxes, and they drive down in this bizarre convoy.

livia albeck-ripka The total number that you evacuated with — 11 koalas, 15 kangaroos. Chickens? susan pulis Two possums. livia albeck-ripka Two possums. susan pulis One bird.

livia albeck-ripka

11 koalas, 15 kangaroos, possums, a lorikeet, two dogs, chickens.

susan pulis That’s all I’ve got, I think. I think that’s it.

livia albeck-ripka

And they go down from the bush to the coast, to this island where several of Susie’s friends have agreed to house these animals while the fires are blazing.

livia albeck-ripka Amazing. susan pulis [INAUDIBLE] — flaps around a little, and it doesn’t fly exceptionally well.

michael barbaro

So Livia, how is everyone managing, especially the animals, being suddenly all together in this house?

livia albeck-ripka

Well, it’s not ideal. These animals are — they’re wild animals. They’re stressed. They don’t like being locked up in a bedroom. And this is why Susie is really eager to get home. And while I’m there, there’s this lull in the fires, and Susie decides this would be a good time to go back and check the property, to assess the scale of the damage. So we hop into the car, and we’re driving out to her property. We drive up this road, which is officially closed. It’s raining, and the rain has turned the ash to this kind of sludge on the road. And we’re driving through miles and miles of blackened forest.

livia albeck-ripka How are you feeling, seeing all of this? susan pulis Oh, it’s bad.

livia albeck-ripka

The eucalyptus trees don’t have leaves on them. Some of them have fallen over. Susie rolls down the window to make sure that we hear the cracks of any trees that might fall over and hit the car.

livia albeck-ripka You’ve heard the sound of cracking timber before? susan pulis Man. livia albeck-ripka Really, a tree fell down? susan pulis Yeah, someone died one year. livia albeck-ripka Oh, my god.

livia albeck-ripka

So this is a pretty hairy drive. It’s really slippery.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

livia albeck-ripka

The forest is totally decimated, and there’s an eerie smoke haze hanging over everything. At some point, we’re at this turn in the road filled with mangium trees, which is a type of eucalypt, that have been totally decimated. And Susie starts crying.

susan pulis [CRYING]

michael barbaro

Why?

livia albeck-ripka

This was her koala feed.

susan pulis This was my koala feed here. Oh, my god. It was absolutely alive.

livia albeck-ripka

This is where she used to collect leaves for her animals that she was rehabilitating. And she doesn’t know where she’s gonna get it from anymore. So even if she moves the animals back, she doesn’t know how she’ll feed them.

michael barbaro

Hm.

livia albeck-ripka

We continue driving to the property and her home. And finally we arrive. And —

susan pulis This — livia albeck-ripka Wow. susan pulis Healthy, green grass. livia albeck-ripka It’s just green.

livia albeck-ripka

It’s incredible.

livia albeck-ripka It’s like — susan pulis An oasis for the animals. livia albeck-ripka Wow. That’s just amazing.

livia albeck-ripka

After miles and miles of burnt forest, we’re finally in this place, and it’s a lush, green oasis that has miraculously survived these fires.

livia albeck-ripka It’s crazy to drive through all that, and suddenly you’re in this oasis. It’s amazing. susan pulis It’s a bit surreal.

livia albeck-ripka

Even Susie isn’t quite sure how it survived.

michael barbaro

She’s somehow been spared.

livia albeck-ripka

Yeah, and one of the reasons is because there’s been someone looking out for her land. There’s this friend.

livia albeck-ripka Hey there. It’s nice to meet you. susan pulis This is Jason. He’s the brave one.

livia albeck-ripka

A guy named Jason, who’s stuck around.

livia albeck-ripka Yeah, well done.

livia albeck-ripka

Even when everyone else evacuated, even when the flames were yards high and threatening the property and his life.

livia albeck-ripka What was it like being here on your own, surrounded by fire in the bush? That must’ve been terrifying. jason Yeah, it was. I had me moments.

livia albeck-ripka

So despite the evacuation notices, despite what the authorities were saying, he decided that he was going to stay and defend her property.

jason The flames here, they were up to here. They were up the trees and — livia albeck-ripka Wow. jason I was standing here, just —

livia albeck-ripka

He’s filling up a tanker with water. He’s got a hose and a pump, and he’s desperately trying to ward off these flames, which are meters high.

jason Because I just didn’t want these trees to fall, because they’re so tall.

livia albeck-ripka

He’s frantically trying to protect Susie’s property, this place where she keeps these animals, when it just becomes too much.

livia albeck-ripka Were you afraid for your life? jason I was a little, just because I didn’t know what it was gonna do. It was scary.

livia albeck-ripka

And at the last minute, he hears this sound.

jason Then I heard a helicopter, and he’s just hovering around, hovering around, and then he just stayed around. And I was like, hmm, that’s good. And then all of a sudden, I heard another helicopter. It was another small one. And then they both were hovering around. And then yeah, the big one turned up, and —

livia albeck-ripka

It’s a water bomber, an aircraft that can drop massive amounts of water. And one of these water bombers soaks her property and saves it.

livia albeck-ripka So you’re the hero that defended the property. How does it feel? jason Oh, it was good. Good that it’s still standing, you know, that it’s still here.

michael barbaro

Wow. So she got incredibly lucky.

livia albeck-ripka

Right. But even now, they’re not completely in the clear.

livia albeck-ripka Is there a fire down there? jason Yeah. livia albeck-ripka Oh my gosh. jason Even with the rain, I’ve put about 2,000 liters of water on that log, and it still just keeps catching, because it’s inside it.

livia albeck-ripka

There are still some spot fires. There’s this one log that is just persistently on fire. And even if Susie takes her animals back, she can’t be sure that another fire won’t come. And this time, maybe she won’t be as lucky.

michael barbaro

Livia, you’re describing a series of good Samaritans who have risked a lot to save these animals, but the problem, I have to imagine, is far greater than any number of good Samaritans could possibly solve.

livia albeck-ripka

Right. I mean, these people are battling these immense changes to Australia’s landscape on a tiny, tiny scale. And they can’t save Australia’s wildlife on their own, but it is mainly volunteers who are battling these blazes and their impacts. And that touches on a deep frustration throughout the country that I’ve seen in my reporting, that it’s falling on people like Jason, like Susie, to protect Australia in this disaster, and that the government of Australia isn’t doing enough.

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back. So Livia, you said that the work of fighting these enormous fires has really fallen on individuals like Susie, and that there’s a sense that the government isn’t doing enough. So what exactly has the government been doing?

livia albeck-ripka

So a number of weeks ago, these posters of the prime minister, this man named Scott Morrison, began to pop up around Australia and online as a kind of meme. They said, “Missing. Your country is on fire.”

archived recording The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is getting hammered tonight for quietly going on a holiday to Hawaii while large parts of the nation burn.

livia albeck-ripka

It starts to emerge that maybe the prime minister is away on vacation. We don’t really know where he is, and then these pictures start to circulate online, where he appears to be on the beach in Hawaii.

archived recording (protesters) Hey, hey, ho, ho, ScoMo has got to go! archived recording Protesters will gather at the prime minister’s Sydney residence this morning, claiming Scott Morrison is missing in action — archived recording (protesters) ScoMo must go! archived recording — at a time when the country needs leadership on bushfires and smoke haze.

livia albeck-ripka

And people are really pissed off.

archived recording I’m angry. I’m angry. We’re really angry.

livia albeck-ripka

But it’s not just about this vacation.

archived recording We’re really angry that these people are denying, continuously denying, climate change.

livia albeck-ripka

What people are really upset about is the prime minister’s attitude toward the environment and climate change, and his beholdence to coal.

michael barbaro

And what exactly do you mean by that, his beholdence to coal?

livia albeck-ripka

So Australia has always had this really intimate relationship with coal. We’re the world’s largest exporter of it. Most of it gets sent to growing economies in Asia. The government is highly supported by the coal industry, and both parties take donations from the coal industry. So there’s this intimate connection between coal and government in Australia. It’s a part of our identity and has been for a long time. But increasingly, there’s this climate war growing in Australia, where, because we’re one of the most vulnerable developed nations to the impacts of climate change, people are increasingly growing tired of this connection to coal.

archived recording We are living in a dangerous climate, and it is time for our prime minister to get out of the pockets of the coal and gas lobby groups and to start thinking about the future of Australians.

livia albeck-ripka

But on the other side, we do have those who still believe that it’s integral to our identity, that the economy would collapse if we didn’t have it.

archived recording (scott morrison) 55,000 jobs depend on our coal mining industry.

livia albeck-ripka

And as far as the prime minister goes, he’s certainly on the side of the coal industry.

archived recording (scott morrison) I’m not going to support those running around Queensland trying to steal people’s jobs.

michael barbaro

And how has this climate debate going on in Australia and the prime minister’s approach to it factored into how he has responded to these fires?

livia albeck-ripka

So when these fires start in September, Mr. Morrison is really slow to respond.

archived recording (scott morrison) I would like to go and provide direct personal support to people as they’re suffering. But at the same time, we don’t want to hamper or in any way frustrate the firefighting effort and the support efforts that are in place, so —

livia albeck-ripka

There’s no federal government response, really, at all. And the way that Australia fights fires is primarily with volunteers. And as these fires become more and more intense, these firefighters are becoming fatigued. But the prime minister says he’s not going to pay them.

archived recording (scott morrison) Australia is very well placed and positioned to deal with these types of disasters. The coordination and the relationships that have been built up between our state agencies are simply outstanding. And I’ve seen it on display.

livia albeck-ripka

He says this is an issue for the states and not the federal government.

archived recording Public anger has risen after two volunteer firefighters were killed battling bushfires sweeping the East Coast.

livia albeck-ripka

Then two firefighters die.

archived recording A heartbreaking scene as their colleagues comfort each other in a time of incredible sadness.

livia albeck-ripka

So word gets out that the prime minister’s on this vacation in Hawaii.

archived recording The prime minister has caved tonight, rushing back from Hawaii amid criticism for taking a holiday while Sydney burns.

livia albeck-ripka

And he finally holds a press conference.

archived recording (scott morrison) I want to start by extending my sincere condolences and sympathies once again.

livia albeck-ripka

He agrees to pay the volunteer firefighters 6,000 Australian dollars each.

archived recording (scott morrison) I also want to acknowledge the outstanding work that is being done.

livia albeck-ripka

And he does this really big thing.

archived recording (scott morrison) The H.M.A.S. Adelaide, the Navy’s largest amphibious ship, has been readied to join H.M.A.S. Choules, and the M.V. Sycamore in supporting evacuation of citizens from fire-affected areas along our coastline.

livia albeck-ripka

He says he’s going to deploy the Navy to evacuate people.

archived recording (scott morrison) The best response I can provide to people who are feeling angry and people who are feeling isolated, for people who are fearful and afraid, is to do what I’m doing today.

livia albeck-ripka

And some say this is the biggest maritime evacuation Australia has ever seen.

michael barbaro

And since returning from this unfortunately timed vacation and really engaging with the response to these fires, what has the prime minister said about the connection between the fires and climate change?

livia albeck-ripka

As these fires have intensified, and so has the pressure from the public and from journalists, he’s being forced to address climate change head-on.

archived recording (scott morrison) There is no argument about the links between broader issues of global climate change and weather events around the world, but I’m sure people equally would acknowledge that the direct connection to any single fire event, it’s not a credible suggestion to make that link.

livia albeck-ripka

And what he said is that he’s always believed in climate change, but that it’s impossible to link events like the bushfires to any one regulation or policy of a specific country.

archived recording (scott morrison) So we must take action on climate change. And we’ll do it without economy-wrecking or job-destroying reckless targets. We’ll do it with sensible targets that gets the balance right.

livia albeck-ripka

And so there’s this real divide here between those who see the bushfires in Australia as some kind of natural disaster, as a tragedy, and those who see it as a turning point in the conversation about climate change.

michael barbaro

Right, because a tragedy would not be preventable. It’s just a horrible thing that you experience and you mourn, whereas a turning point in the case of these fires implies that what’s being mourned here becomes a call to action, to prevent this from happening again.

livia albeck-ripka

Yeah, I think for those people who are experiencing these impacts firsthand, and for those who are watching them play out online, on their TVs around Australia, this is one of the first times we’re really experiencing as a country what climate change feels and looks like, just how apocalyptic it can be, and just how much our ecosystems can be devastated. And so for these people, they’re really hoping that this is a moment where the government is finally going to act and change its policies around this issue.

michael barbaro

Livia, how much more can we expect from these fires? And as Australia tries to put them out, have people like Susie been able to return to their homes and basically start rebuilding their lives?

livia albeck-ripka

So since I visited Susie and there was this little lull in the fires, it’s picked back up again, and whatever small amount of rain fell, authorities are saying, really made no difference to the fires that are continuing to rage all along the coast. And we’ve got weeks, if not months, left of them.

michael barbaro

Livia, thank you very much.

livia albeck-ripka

Thank you.

archived recording (scott morrison) I think there is obviously a need for a national review of the response. And let’s not forget the role of — archived recording A royal commission, is that what you’re talking about? archived recording (scott morrison) I think that is what would be necessary. And I’ll be taking a proposal through the cabinet to that end, but it must —

michael barbaro

In an interview on Sunday, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said he would call for a high-level investigation into the government’s handling of the country’s bushfires, acknowledging the nation’s deep frustration with the response. But in the interview, Morrison did not call for a significant shift in his government’s policies towards carbon emissions.

archived recording (scott morrison) In the years ahead, we are going to continue to evolve our policy in this area to reduce emissions even further. And we’re going to do it without a carbon tax, without putting up electricity prices — archived recording So if you can do it without a carbon tax and putting up prices, are you willing to — archived recording (scott morrison) — and without shutting down traditional industries upon which regional Australians depend for their very livelihood.

michael barbaro