“There are things that could have been handled much better on the ground,” he acknowledged in an interview with the state-owned public television network.

The Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, admitted Sunday that mistakes have been made in the management of forest fires that devastate the country and over which he has received strong criticism.

“There are things that could have been handled much better on the ground,” acknowledged the prime minister in an interview with the public television network ABC where he also announced that a public investigation will be launched on the response to the fires.

The apology of the questioned prime minister comes after Friday thousands of people demonstrated in several cities in Australia to ask for his resignation in addition to demanding more government means against climate change and to fight forest fires, which have already left 28 dead and thousands of burned houses.

Morrison, who has become a defender of polluting industries such as coal and has refused to link the climate crisis with the worsening of forest fires, has been the subject of numerous criticisms in recent weeks.

The conservative prime minister was very questioned about going on vacation to Hawaii (USA) without notifying in the middle of the crisis before Christmas and during his visits to the affected areas he has seen firsthand the rejection of some neighbours who have refused to shake hands and even insulted him.

Regarding his policies to deal with the effects of the climate crisis, Morrison said during the interview that “the Government will continue its efforts to achieve the objectives” of reducing emissions, without specifying more.

Since the fires began last September, it has swept an area of ​​more than 8 million hectares, equivalent to that of Ireland, and it is estimated that up to one billion wild animals could have died, while the dry and fire season continues.

After several critical days due to the high temperatures, a colder climate has been forecast in the next week, which could give a truce to the firefighters fighting the devastating fires throughout the country.