INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, has arrived back in the country as bushfires continue to rage, creating "catastrophic"
After apologising for being on holiday in Hawaii while large areas of New South Wales burned, he was due to visit the fire service's HQ on
Sunday.As the blazes spread across almost 100,000 acres, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack admitted there "absolutely" needed to be
more action on climate change.Image:Fire officials say the conditions are 'as bad as it gets'In a news conference, he said there was a "lot
of hysteria around climate change", adding that it was not the "only factor that has caused these fires".Speaking in Wagga Wagga, he
continued: "There's been dry lightning strikes; there's been self-combusting piles of manure
There's been a lot of arsonists out there."But when asked whether he agreed that climate change needed to be tackled, he replied: "Yeah I
do, yeah absolutely, I do agree."On Thursday, protesters camped outside Mr Morrison's Sydney home demanding urgent action on global
warming.Critics allege he is a climate change sceptic, but he admitted earlier this month that it had contributed to the fires.Experts say
the evidence for a link is strong."Australian climate scientists are very clear that these hot, dry conditions are becoming more intense and
more frequent and that is linked to climate change," Bob Ward from the Grantham Institute on Climate Change at the LSE told Sky News."It's
clear that climate change is making this a more risky situation."Image:A bushfire approaches homes on the outskirts of the town of
BargoFirefighters have been battling more than 100 blazes.One person was found dead inside a fire zone near Adelaide in South Australia on
Saturday, two days after two volunteer firefighters were killed in the country's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW).Around three
million hectares (11,560 sq miles) of land has been set alight across the country during a harsh bushfire season which has killed nine
people and destroyed more than 800 homes.Fires in NSW were set to worsen as temperatures in western Sydney were forecast to hit 47C (115F)
on Saturday while winds of up to 56mph (90kph) were set to fan the flames before leading to a temperature drop in the evening."Catastrophic
fire conditions are as bad as it gets," NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said."They are the very worst of conditions
Given we have a landscape with so much active fire burning, you have a recipe for very serious concern and a very dangerous day."Roads
outside Sydney were closed and authorities asked people to delay travel at the start of the busy Christmas travel period.Firefighters
struggle to contain Australia blazeClose to 10,000 emergency personnel were deployed across the state on Saturday - probably the largest
number utilised in NSW ever - the state's minister for police and emergency services David Elliott said."They're there, four days before
Christmas, to keep families safe," he said.On Thursday, a seven-day state of emergency was declared in NSW for the first time since 2013.'I
don't hold a hose,' says Australia's PMIn South Australia, authorities said 23 firefighters and several police suffered injuries on
Friday."It is going to be a real scene of devastation, especially for those people in the Adelaide Hills who have been most affected," South
Australia Premier Steven Marshall said."We know that in addition to the buildings and vehicles lost there are very significant losses in
terms of livestock, animals, crops, vineyards."Image:Nearly 10,000 emergency personnel are working across NSW on SaturdayThe annual
Australian fire season started early after an unusually warm and dry winter.
