Aust should help with Amazon blaze: Labor

Federal Labor says Prime Minister Scott Morrison shouldn’t “sit on his hands” and wait to be asked for Australia’s help to battle escalating fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.

The fires have drawn international concern due to the Amazon’s importance to the environment.

Brazilian authorities are yet to ask for Australia’s help but a DFAT spokeswoman told AAP on Monday the embassy in Brazil’s capital Brasilia was keeping watch with “deep concern”.

“The world’s rainforests are a wealth of natural heritage and biodiversity. Australia knows too well the human and natural cost of fire,” she said.

Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong says the government should be proactive in offering practical help, arguing Prime Minister Scott Morrison shouldn’t “sit on his hands until he’s asked”.

“That’s the decent Australian thing to do in the face of a worsening global disaster like this,” she said. “The Amazon has often been described as the world’s lungs. Its protection matters to the whole international community.”

Overseas requests for help from Australian firefighters typically occur through diplomatic channels.
A spokesman from Defence said the department had not received requests to help fight the fires and they were not preparing for such a situation.

Despite this, Scott Morrison is in France for the G7 summit where a plan to help battle the fires is high on the agenda.

Australia was invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to the leaders’ gathering that usually comprises France, Germany, the UK, Italy the US, Canada and Japan.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised $A18 million to help protect the Amazon rainforest, putting pressure on G7 leaders as they near a deal to provide technical and financial help to countries affected by the fires.

Israel will send a specialised plane to help in the firefighting operation.

Meanwhile, Brazilian warplanes are dumping water on the burning forest in the Amazon state of Rondonia, after local governments asked for assistance from the military.

A spokeswoman for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday said he had authorised the request, enabling military operations in seven states to combat the fires.

A new environmental foundation backed by Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has also pledged $A7.4 million in aid to the Amazon.

With AAP

Pearl Dy

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Pearl Dy is a community manager and journalist. She is passionate about business and development particularly involving not-for-profits, charity and social entrepreneurship.

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