Pacific islands will survive climate crisis because they 'pick our fruit', Australia's deputy PM say

Source: The Guardian

Pacific islands will survive climate crisis because they 'pick our fruit', Australia's deputy PM says

Exclusive: Michael McCormack says island nations want Australia to shut down industry ‘so they can survive’

Ben Smee
@BenSmee
Fri 16 Aug 2019 10.29 BST First published on Fri 16 Aug 2019 09.24 BST

Pacific island nations affected by the climate crisis will continue to survive “because many of their workers come here to pick our fruit”, Australia’s deputy prime minister has said.

Michael McCormack’s comments were made after critical talks at the Pacific Islands Forum that almost collapsed over Australia’s positions on coal and climate change.

Fears are growing the situation might come at a diplomatic cost for Australia in a region where China has become increasingly influential.

McCormack, who has been the acting prime minister while Scott Morrison attended the forum in low-lying Tuvalu, attended a business function in Wagga Wagga on Friday.

“I also get a little bit annoyed when we have people in those sorts of countries pointing the finger at Australia and say we should be shutting down all our resources sector so that, you know, they will continue to survive,” he said.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/16/pacific-islands-will-survive-climate-crisis-because-they-can-pick-our-fruit-australias-deputy-pm-says