In February this year, though it feels a lifetime of disasters ago now, Townsville and nearby areas of central Queensland were hit by catastrophic floods.

Five deaths were linked to the floods which damaged around 3,300 homes.

In the bush, which was in the grips of drought, the damage was devastating, including to the national cattle herd. Half a million cattle were estimated to have died in the floodwaters and their aftermath.

Governments were quick to act, and to be seen to be acting.

At an event on March 1 to discuss the aftermath of the floods in a shop that had been inundated, Scott Morrison recounted his previous visit to Townsville and talked of the various measures the Government was taking to help with reconstruction.

"That's what we love doing as a government is to be there when parts of the country absolutely need us", he said. "But always looking to see how we can make all parts of the country stronger."

Many roads in the low-lying suburbs were cut off by floodwaters. ( Audience submitted: Conan Whitehouse )

A couple of weeks earlier, when Federal Parliament met on February 12, he had told the Coalition party room: "We've had floods in northern Australia, in particular in Townsville and we are now witnessing a full-scale national disaster, national disaster, of what is happening in northern Queensland".

He went on to commend various colleagues for having the Defence Force turn up, for having "aerial assets" ready and in place for last summer's bushfires, and to ensure people got emergency financial relief.

"That's government in action, that's government dealing with issues that the Australian people are facing," he said.

From floods to fire

Now let's fast forward to the catastrophic fires raging down the east coast of Australia for the past month which have so far destroyed 2.7 million hectares of bush, and seen Australians confront an apocalyptic future hurtling toward them at a terrifying pace which has left many people literally gasping for breath in its largest city.

It took the Prime Minister until Thursday to class the catastrophic fires that have burnt out much of the green spine of NSW, and now ring the country, as a "national disaster".

With Sydney choking on smoke for much of the week, it seemed it finally occurred to Morrison that, whatever he thought he had been doing, in a political or policy sense, to deal with the bushfire crisis, the rest of the country perhaps did not see it that way.

Yes, Prime Minister, it is a national disaster, a term you were much more prepared to use about the devastating floods in Queensland earlier this year.

It took until Thursday for Scott Morrison to class the catastrophic fires as a "national disaster". ( Supplied: DFES incident photographer Evan Collis )

And as a national disaster, it should be one that we are having a frank discussion about.

What's more, we should be watching the Government "in action" and "dealing with the issues that the Australian people are facing".

But as plenty of people have observed, that has not been happening, or appearing to happen.

And since it isn't, it is worth reflecting on what this tells us about the Prime Minister's political skills and the stable, efficient Government that he so often tells us about.

When the Prime Minister finally did seem to address the issue on Thursday, it was at a press conference sandwiched between a brief on the New Zealand volcano disaster, and the release of an ACCC report on the regulation of digital platforms.

Two problems in need of a solution

There are now two separate problems for the Government, and therefore the rest of us, about these bushfires.

The first concerns the determination by the senior figures in the Government to not link them to climate change. The second is about the adequacy of a government response.

On both fronts, the Prime Minister showed a constipated stubbornness which is not just frustrating for people who want some reassurance that their alarm over their fires is reflected in the views of the Government, but concerning because it suggests an inflexibility of mind which does not allow him to see either political opportunity or policy grunt.

Plenty of people have noted a lack of government action over the bushfire emergency. ( Unsplash: Markus Spiske )

Stung by suggestions that he has not acknowledged climate change as a contributing factor, he and his office have repeatedly pointed to his comment on November 21 when he said in an interview "I mean, in February, I acknowledged the contribution of those factors to what was happening in Australia, amongst many other issues".

What he had said in February was: "the action we've taken to address climate change has been taken and we're meeting the commitments we've made up until right now, when these very events you speak of are occurring".

"I acknowledge it [climate change] is a factor, of course it is".

Both statements had the ring of someone admitting to something in the middle of a contrived loud coughing fit, in the hope that no-one will have noticed it.

Beyond that, the Government is strongly asserting of course that it is already doing enough on climate change and quotes figures to prove it, even as our emissions accounting is under challenge by international bodies, and we are rated at the bottom of the list of countries taking action.

Such things are dismissed by the PM as misunderstood processes, or rejected as non-credible.

Australia, he argues, is not a huge emitter of greenhouse gases and cannot solve the problems of the world alone.

Whether we are or aren't a huge emitter is hardly the issue though in this summer of alarm.

Unprecedented disasters offer every incentive to take a lead instead of leaving it to a 16-year-old activist. (Time via AP) ( Time via AP )

We can't leave it to teens

When we are facing natural disasters unprecedented in their scale, flood, drought and bushfire, you just might think that gives us every incentive in the world to actually take a lead on pushing for even more action on climate change, instead of leaving it to a 16-year-old Swedish kid.

Just as Australia has become an effective advocate for so many international issues over the years which were in our interest, including free trade.

The same passivity flows from the Prime Minister's words about what the Government is actually doing about the fires.

"Now, I'm often asked about the issue of declaring a national disaster", the Prime Minister said on Thursday.

"As many Australians would know, and the disaster categorisation is actioned by state governments. That's what occurs under state legislation."

Yes, but of course the states are responsible for declaring natural disasters — a term which has a particular bureaucratic meaning for how events are responded to, not to acknowledge as the leader of the country that we are actually facing a national disaster.

Maybe the Prime Minister seemed to realise this. He continued:

"Of course, this is a national disaster. We all understand that. And in the states, there have been various declarations that have been made which activate particular actions and powers and authorities to respond to those and that includes the actions and coordination of federal authorities."

And when has the role of the states in administering natural disasters ever stopped a competent federal government from stomping in to take a leadership role?

Having lost control of the discussion about bushfires and what to do about them, there is little sign that Scott Morrison knows how to correct his language, or his apparent grasp of a response back to something that is reassuring, rather than contentious.

That will require some serious reflections on the nature of leadership over the summer.

Laura Tingle is 7.30's chief political correspondent.