by Renju Jose
SYDNEY, March 9 (Reuters) – Australia declared a state of national emergency on Wednesday to deal with flooding that is ravaging the country’s east coast and has killed at least 21 people.
“Australia is becoming an increasingly difficult country to live in due to these natural disasters,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday after visiting the disaster-hit Northern Rivers region of New Zealand state. South Wales.
The inhabitants of this region, deprived of electricity and Internet access for several days, criticized the authorities for the slowness and the lack of scale of the relief operations.
The declaration of a state of emergency, which was also put in place during the vast fires that affected the country in 2019, reduces red tape and speeds up assistance to victims.
The government has already paid 385 million Australian dollars (257 million euros) to flood victims nationwide.
Scott Morrison said aid would be increased in and around Lismore, one of the hardest hit towns, to provide food and shelter, mental health support and legal and business support .
The Prime Minister, trailing in the polls as May’s parliamentary elections approach, has kept the media away from his meetings with flood victims, in order, he says, to protect their privacy.
Speaking to reporters, the Conservative leader made the link between the floods and climate change, which he also believed to be the cause of recent fires, while pointing out the responsibility of other countries in reducing carbon emissions.
Scott Morrison says flood mitigation measures would save lives, rather than tougher restrictions on Australia’s emissions.
The country has committed to a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but environmental activists are calling for more aggressive measures. (Report Renju Jose; French version Valentine Baldassari, edited by Blandine Hénault)