Prime Minister Scott Morrison has widened the split with the NSW government in issuing a savage rebuke to the state's Environment Minister over claims senior Coalition members are privately pushing for more ambitious emission reduction targets.

Speaking on ABC's AM program, Mr Morrison said Environment Minister Matt Kean "doesn't know what he's talking about" and that "most of the federal cabinet wouldn't even know who Matt Kean was".

Scott Morrison has defended embattled minister Bridget McKenzie. Credit:Getty

Mr Kean, who has publicly linked Australia's ongoing bushfire crisis to climate change, previously said the Prime Minister was under pressure from his own ministers for greater action on emissions.

"He doesn't know what's going on in the federal cabinet," Mr Morrison said. "We are dealing with our climate policies in the same way as we took them to the election. We will meet and beat our emissions reduction targets."