CANBERRA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has called for the government to be a global leader on climate change.
As the country endures a bushfire crisis, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly ruled out pursuing more ambitious climate change policies than those Australia has already committed to.
"Australia is a highly developed country," Bishop, the minister for foreign affairs between 2013 and 2018, told Nine Network television on Monday.
"We should be showing leadership on the issue of climate change." she said.
Bushfires in all six Australian states have killed at lease 24 people, destroyed thousands of properties and burned more than 5 million hectares of land.
Bishop said that the crisis was taking "a tragic toll on the nation" and that communities needed "leadership at every level."
"All of our leaders need to show compassion and care to address the needs that people have," she said.
It comes after the former foreign minister criticized Morrison for going on a family holiday to Hawaii in December while much of the country was ablaze.
