What a disgusting thing to say "they want to be there" I am sure they prefer being home with their families!

Curious - I completely agree that climate change does not discriminate between countries - and neither do CO2 emissions.  So if we cut our emissions to zero tomorrow it would have absolutely zero effect on climate change because China, who produce 30% of global emissions are increasing their emissions every year until at least 2030. And their annual increase is more than Australia's annual total emissions.

So are the current bush fires a result of climate change? Possibly.  But it's absolutely certain that anything we do to cut emissions will have no effect on the current fires.

Last I heard we met our emission targets under Tokyo and are on track or close to meet Paris targets. But while China is categorised as a "developing" nation, it's Paris CO2 targets are steadily increasing, not decreasing.  

So "libsareliars", your taxation analogy does not hold water as Australia is reducing its emissions, unlike China.

If Australia reduced its coal exports as you propose Curious, China, South Korea et al will simply increase their imports from Mongolia, Brazil, Africa etc. This would lead to an increase in CO2 emissions because their coal is less thermally efficient than ours- ie it produces more CO2 to produce the same heat output.

And btw, what about coking coal? Last I heard you cannot turn iron ore into  iron and then steel without using coking coal (as opposed to thermal coal which is used to produce electricity) 

Now if you suggested we should use nuclear power to provide base load generation when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine, I'd think you're on a winner!

BTW libsareliars, are you implying politicians from the other parties don't tell the odd porky?

What I said was if we stop supplying thermal coal, China will import it from elsewhere and continue building more coal fired power stations

And if we stopped supplying coking coal, other countries would probably stop buying our iron ore, and we could say goodbye to Medicare, free education, the various pension, the NDIS and all those social programs which we all want for our children

Curious - The price of iron ore is not directly linked to BHP share price.

if you look at www.marketindex.com.au you will see that in the last 6 months the price of iron ore has varied between a high of US$102 down to a low around $75 and currently sits at US$92 a tonne and has been generally rising over the last 2 months.

Where did you get your figures from?

And Curious, according to the RBA we exported 830 million tonnes of iron ore in 2018 at a valuation of A$63 billion or 15% of total exports, and has been increasing gradually.  It is our biggest export by value

$11 million for aerial firefighting - whoo hoo! - thanks Slomo! Trump got $150 million to go to Mars. Costs many millions of $$$'s to rent firefighting aircraft, $11 million won't go very far. We need to buy our own.

No, no no hell no, if we stop selling clean coal to China, they will import dirty coal from somewhere else. Put your thinking caps on and wrap your noggins around nuclear. 

Nuclear is the way to go, clean, technology improving constantly, cost to the consumer eventually affordable and a gift to the planet.

Curious - in your original post you claimed demand for our iron ore was falling. In your latest post you quote a FR report saying there is a shortage and prices are increasing; if the price of a commodity rises, it normally means there is an increase in demand.  You seem to be contradicting yourself.

If there is a short term reduction in our exports due to bad weather (note bad weather is not climate change) it implies our exports will increase again once the bad weather stops. 

Abe - I agree with you on nuclear power, but remain very pessimistic as we  (by which I mean our government) have been unable to find a site in Australia for the long term storage of nuclear waste.  Everyone wants access to X-rays and radiotherapy, but despite having the most stable geology in the world and plenty of very remote sites, we can't agree on a storage site for the nuclear waste.   Imagine the outcry over the possible site for a power station.  Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima will not be built in anyone's backyard!

I am a volunteer firefighter. Yes, we 'want to be here', Scott Morrison – but there are limits

Most firefighting is just bloody hard work. We need a new support system

Geoff Goldrick

Fri 13 Dec 2019 10.51 AEDTLast modified on Fri 13 Dec 2019 13.21 AEDT

 Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

Iam a member of the NSW Rural Fire Service because it is a volunteer service. Volunteering makes me feel good about the work we do and the opportunity to give back to my community. We are proud to be volunteers. But there are limits!

Scott Morrison recently dismissed concerns about the thousands of volunteer firefighters doing long hours over many weeks saying “they want to be there”.

Yes, we do want to help our communities. Yes, it is great to be part of a “family” of dedicated men and women who are willing to sacrifice time and money to perform essential services. We are proud to be volunteers. But there are limits!

There is a public perception that firefighting is heroic, but in reality, standing in front of a wall of fire armed with a hose is something firefighters try to avoid.

Most firefighting is just bloody hard work, and often boring. Back-burning, blacking out, raking firebreaks, patrolling through the night, sitting around waiting to be tasked by an overwhelmed IMT, working 17 hour shifts without a break or food because the shit is hitting the fan, getting home at 1am only to be called out again at 4am to a non-existent fire because the community is on edge, extinguishing barbecues during total fire bans, false alarms.

This is the reality of being a firefighter. We are proud to be volunteers. But there are limits!

And then there are the unsung heroes, our families. The ones who worry if we will come home. The ones we leave to fend for themselves during severe fire weather. The ones we hardly see for days. The plans cancelled at the last minute. The jobs left undone. The cuppa and hug when we get home. The dirty PPE that is washed while we sleep. The stress that all this can put on even the strongest relationship.

They didn’t volunteer for this, but they accept it, year after loyal year. They are proud we are volunteers. But there are limits!

One, two, three...six. The weeks are dragging on and still the fires are uncontrolled. It is getting harder and harder to raise crews.

People can’t afford the lost time and wages. Even those who are lucky enough to work for employers who continue to pay us during emergencies worry about the impact on our jobs. The stress and tensions increase over time. So the burden of manning the trucks falls increasingly on retired members.

If this is the “new normal” then we need a new model. We are proud to be volunteers. But there are limits!

We need a new support system that kicks in after certain period of time.

Support that allows us to continue to contribute over increasingly long fire seasons.

This could include funding so our employers can replace us with casual staff while we continue to be paid. This could include direct payment for the self-employed or unemployed. This could include refunds for daycare and after-school care. This could include laundry and meal allowances for those who live alone and are too exhausted to wash and cook when they arrive home.

These are just some ideas, starting points for discussion. Any new system must be carefully designed in consultation with the volunteers, and it must be flexible because we each have different circumstances.

But we need something, and soon. We are proud to be volunteers. We want to remain volunteers. But there are limits! Even “heroes” need a safety net.

From The Guardian Australia

Dr Geoff Goldrick is a deputy captain with the NSW Rural Fire Service in Northern NSW

Thank you Curious for your gratitude, I will be sure to pass it on to my wife who supports my volunteer activities 100%.

You should be aware however that while Geoff Goldrick makes eminently good comments about governments (state) providing support to employers to enable them to release volunteers, most of the volunteers I know will gladly continue to turn out and assist our communities when required

thank your lucky stars Shorten did not get in...just imagine trying to use electric fire trucks...what a joke!

A lot of very  negative leftist comments toward  the PM is so blatantly evident on this site from the top down. 

It would be nice if POLITIC BIAS was absent  from this site.