With fires spreading wildly through the Amazon rainforest, the “lungs of the world” is in dire need of assistance. Realising that having a major source of the world’s oxygen disappear is probably a bad thing, the world leaders at the G7 summit in France have agreed to pledge $30 million in aid. However, Australia won’t have any part of that according to Scott Morrison.
Scotty, who was at the G7 summit as an invited guest, said Australia won’t be ponying up any coin since the Amazon fires are “not directly in our sphere” and the resources are better spent focusing on disasters closer to home.
Okay, that doesn’t look great in terms of showing international support, especially when you’re an invited guest to big boy meeting like G7 but there’s some actual logic to Scott Morrison’s decision here.
Australia isn’t part of the G7, which is comprised of the seven largest economies in the world, so there’s technically no obligation for us to pledge any aid to the Amazon fires or join in any of the bingo games.
But there are two, far bigger, reasons why Scotty’s decision sort of makes sense.
Firstly, $30 million in aid is virtually nothing when facing a disaster as large and destructive as the Amazon fires. To put that number into perspective, Notre Dame got around 1 billion euros in aid. An 800-year-old cathedral that’s taking up space got far more attention and funding than the biggest producer of oxygen on Earth. Yes, it is messed up.
Hell, Leonardo DiCaprio is ponying up $5 million of his Once Upon A Time In Hollywood money to fight the fires. That’s one-sixth of what the G7 leaders pledged to help the Amazon.
It sounds incredibly cynical because it is, but why should Australia put money on the table when no one will, especially when this money will barely make a difference? If the G7 countries pledged $1 billion then we’d be having a different conversation. But $30 million? Nah.
Secondly, Scotty’s excuse of Australia needing to focus on disasters at home isn’t totally unfounded. Bush fire season is nearly upon us, with some states being hit early this year, and we’re going through yet another awful drought period. Throw in other natural disasters, like flooding, into the mix and we’re looking at a massive bill.
According to research by Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities, Australia is hit with an average of $18.2 billion per year in economic costs due to natural disasters and that number is forecast to more than double to $39 billion by 2050.
With costs like that, it does seem like any potential aid sent to the Amazon would be better used at home.
But in saying all that, whether or not Scotty actually, you know, does something about the disasters at home is another question altogether. Will he actually do something about it or will it be another case of “whataboutism”?
There’s also this little fact: we all know where ol’ mate stands on the issue of climate change, which played a big part in what’s happening in the Amazon. Remember when he brought that lump of coal into parliament that one time? That really says all you need to know about his stance on global warming and Australia’s emissions.
So we really shouldn’t be too surprised that Scott Morrison backed out of helping the Amazon. It’s just that he has an excuse to fall back upon this time around.