A row has broken out over the cause of Australia's deadly bushfire crisis, with Liberal MP Craig Kelly claiming that 'arson is not caused by climate change'.

The MP, who is known for his climate change skepticism, put forward his opinion on why the country is gripped in a fire emergency during an appearance on ABC's RN Breakfast show.

'Unprecedented' numbers of people had been arrested and charged with arson offences, he claimed. 'The arson is not caused by climate change.'

The claims of arson have already become a political battleground, with some politicians and commentators seizing on them to argue that the impact of climate change has been overstated.

Australian Liberal MP Craig Kelly told Good Morning Britain: 'What causes the main thing of the fires is the build up of the fuel on the ground and the drought'

Mr Kelly also defended Prime Minister Scott Morrison's decision to holiday in Hawaii amid the crisis during his interview on Good Morning Britain

Backbencher Mr Kelly earlier sparked a row on UK television after claiming there was 'no link' between climate change and the fires in an interview on Good Morning Britain.

He told host Piers Morgan and Laura Tobin: 'What causes the main thing of the fires is the build up of the fuel on the ground and the drought.'

During the interview Mr Kelly also defended Prime Minister Scott Morrison's decision to holiday in Hawaii amid the crisis.

Miss Tobin hit back at Mr Kelly, branding him a 'climate denier'.

She told him: 'We want everyone in the world to lower the global temperature rise by 1.5C, you [Australia] can't even commit to 2C.

'You have the second highest carbon emission on earth and you are burying your head in the sand.

'You're not a climate sceptic - you're a climate denier.'

Following the interview, Mr Kelly caused outrage by calling meteorologist Laura Tobin an 'ignorant Pommy weather girl' on Twitter. He later told ABC News that Tobin 'had no idea what she was talking about.'

Miss Tobin hit back at the MP, pointing out her degree in Physics and Meteorology and telling him: 'I'm not a weather girl.'

Australian backbencher Craig Kelly (pictured) told Good Morning Britain hosts there was 'no link' between climate change and the fires, putting the blame on arson instead

Todd Starnes, a conservative talk show host in the US, also leaped on the arson arrests to make a similar argument.

'It turns out - climate change has nothing to do with the humanitarian crisis unfolding Down Under,' he said.

More than 180 people have been arrested accused of fire-related offences since the beginning of 2019, including 24 in NSW during the current horror fire season which has left 25 dead and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

On the New South Wales south coast, where at least nine people have died since the fire season picked up in October, 29 blazes have been deliberately lit.

The fast moving Myall Creek bushfire spread rapidly throughout northern New South Wales

This map shows the statistics across each state of Australia where people have been charged for lighting fires in 2019

As the fire front approached, the sky was filled with orange flames and thick, grey plumes of smoke

Scientists believe climate change is amplifying the conditions necessary for firestorms to form.

Physicist Scott Menor said that even if all the fires were started by arson, 'climate change made the difference between throwing a match in water to throwing it in gasoline'.

In addition, analysis by Dr Timothy Graham from the Queensland University of Technology suggests that there may be a deliberate misinformation campaign on Twitter to cast doubt on the effect of climate change.

Tweets with the hashtag #ArsonEmergency were more likely to come from suspect accounts than others such as #AustraliaFire, he found, according to ZDNet.

The fires have caught the attention of Hollywood, where numerous movie stars used Sunday night's Golden Globes to draw attention to the blazes - some of them saying that the situation was proof of the need to do more to fight climate change.

A kookaburra perches on a burnt tree in the aftermath of a bushfire in Wallabi Point, in northern NSW

In Queensland, police have arrested 101 people accused of starting bushfires, 69 juveniles and 32 adults.

Five people were arrested for allegedly setting bushland alight in Tasmania - and a further 10 in South Australia.

Meanwhile in Victoria, where locals have experienced some of the most catastrophic conditions the nation has ever seen, 43 people were charged with firebug offences.

'Police are well aware that we need to take action against people, whatever that might be, in this time it is particularly a heightened risk of fire activity and we've seen the devastation it causes,' NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said on Tuesday.

'We make no apologies for being so vigilant about that.'

Allison Marion's photo of her son Finn fleeing the advancing bushfires in the seaside town of Mallacoota in Victoria's far east has become an symbol of this year's bushfire crisis

Mitch Parish, a former arson squad detective, said the international frenzy surrounding the bushfire crisis would only increase a 'vanity arsonists' desire to light an inferno.

'It's got to the stage where they're seeing all the publicity on the fires … and they get bit of a buzz because of all the attention,' Mr Parish said.

'People get very emotional and passionate (about fires) and feel a lot of power because it's a very ­destructive force.'

NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer Blake Banner was charged with lighting seven fires in the south coast region.

The 19-year-old was allegedly spotted leaving a location as a fire spread rapidly and arrived at a fire ground to help put out a blaze before any of his fellow volunteers on another occasion, police say.

He was granted bail and intends to fight the accusations.

Update: Since first publication of this article, this article has been updated to included the correct figures for 2019. We are happy to set the record straight.

Residents defend a property from a bushfire at Hillsville near Taree, 350km north of Sydney

2019/2020 FIRE SEASON DEATH TOLL The national death toll of Australia's 2019/2020 bushfire season was 33 as of Monday, March 2, with 25 confirmed deaths in New South Wales, three in South Australia and five in Victoria. OCTOBER New South Wales: Robert Lindsey, 77, and Gwen Hyde, 68, were found in their burned out Coongbar home near Casino on October 9th. NOVEMBER New South Wales: The body of 85-year-old George Nole was found in a burnt out car near his home in Wytaliba, near Glen Innes. Vivian Chaplain, a 69-year-old woman from Wytaliba, succumbed to her injuries in hospital after attempting in vain to save her home and animals from the blaze. The body of 63-year-old Julie Fletcher was pulled from a scorched building in Johns River, north of Taree. Barry Parsons, 58, was found in a shed at Willawarrin, near Kempsey. Chris Savva, 64, died after his 4WD overturned near burnt-out South Arm bridge, near Nambucca Heads. A 59-year-old man was founded sheltered in a Yarrowitch water tank on November 7. He died of injuries on December 29. Victoria: David Moresi, 69, died after being involved in a traffic incident while working at the at the Gelantipy fire in East Gippsland on November 30. DECEMBER New South Wales: Firefighters Andrew O'Dwyer, 36, and Geoffrey Keaton, 32, died on December 19 after a tree fell on their truck while they were travelling through Buxton, south of Sydney. Samuel McPaul, 28, was battling a blaze in Jingellic, in Green Valley, about 70km east of Albury on the border of NSW and Victoria, on December 30 when a 'fire tornado' caused his 10-tonne firetruck to roll. South Australia: The body of 69-year-old Ron Selth was found in his Charleston home, which was destroyed by the Cudlee Creek blaze on December 21. NEW YEAR'S EVE FIRES New South Wales: Dairy farmer Patrick Salway, 29, and his father Robert, 63, died trying to save their property in Cobargo, near Bega, on December 31. A 70-year-old man, named by local media as Laurie Andrew, was found dead outside a home at Yatte Yattah, west of Lake Conjola. The body of a 70-year-old man was found in a burnt vehicle on a road off the Princes Highway at Yatte Yattah on the morning of New Year's Day. The body of a 62-year-old man was found in a vehicle on Wandra Road at Sussex Inlet about 11.30am on New Year's Day. A body, believed to be a 56-year-old man, found outside a home at Coolagolite, east of Cobargo on New Year's Day. An off-duty RFS firefighter, believed to be 72-year-old Colin Burns, was found near a car in Belowra after the New Year's Eve fires swept through. Victoria: Beloved great-grandfather Mick Roberts, 67, from Buchan, in East Gippsland, was found dead at his home on the morning of New Year's Day. Fred Becker, 75, was the second person to die in Victoria. He suffered a heart attack while trying to defend his Maramingo Creek home. JANUARY New South Wales: David Harrison, a 47-year-old man from Canberra, suffered a heart attack defending his friend's home near Batlow on Saturday, January 4. A 71-year-old man was found on January 6. Police have been told the man was last sighted on December 31, 2019 and was moving equipment on his property in Nerrigundah. An 84-year-old man who stayed to defend his home in Cobargo, NSW, dies in hospital three weeks after fire hit. His pet dog Bella, who stayed by his side as fires raged, was also killed in the disaster. Three American firefighters are killed when Coulson Aviation C-130 Hercules water bomber Zeus crashed while fighting fires near Cooma on Thursday January 23. They have been named as Capt. Ian H. McBeth, 44, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson and Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr, 43. On January 24, Michael Clark, 59, was found in a Bodalla home destroyed by bushfires near the NSW South Coast town of Moruya. Victoria: Forest Fire Management firefighter Mat Kavanagh, 43, was killed Friday January 3 when he was involved in a two-car crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway. Bill Slade, a 60-year-old father of two from Wonthaggi was fighting fires with Parks Victoria at Omeo when he died on January 11. He has been remembered as one of the longest serving, most experienced and fittest firefighters. South Australia: Well-known outback pilot Dick Lang, 78, and his 43-year-old son, Adelaide surgeon Clayton Lang, died in the Kangaroo Island bushfire after their car was trapped by flames. Advertisement

Pictured: Volunteer firefigthter watching on as the Gospers Mountain fire in NSW rapidly approached

NSW Fire and Rescue officer protects the Colo Heights Public School from being impacted by the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights south west of Sydney

Banner was stood down from his duties with the force in the interim and Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said members will be devastated if the allegations are proven true.

'Our members will be rightly angry that the alleged actions of one individual can tarnish the reputation and hard work of so many,' he said.

A 79-year-old South Australian man was also charged with starting multiple grass and shrub fires as the nation welcomed in the new year.

Police will allege the man lit fires on December 30 and January 2, and then two on Saturday, all in the Kingston area, on the state's south-east coastline.

The devastating bushfires have cost 25 people their lives so far this season, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and thousands more outbuildings and dwellings.

The blazes, which have now been burning along much of the east coast of Australia for three months, have scorched more than six million hectares of land.