Will Albanese seas the day?

NO ONE LIKES A SHADY BEACH

Scott Morrison’s personal approval rating has plunged from 45% to 37% in the first Newspoll since the bushfire crisis escalated in mid-December; Labor leader Anthony Albanese has gone from 14 points down to take out “preferred PM” for the first time.

Public anger at Morrison’s ill-fated Hawaii trip and belated bushfire response seems to have borne out in The Australian’s latest poll ($), with the Coalition trailing Labor 49-51 on two-party-preferred.

COALITION ASSISTANCE

Environment Minister Sussan Ley will today announce a $50 million ecology recovery package to support ecosystems and threatened species in the wake of the bushfires. The Coalition will also meet with fire-affected small businesses tomorrow ahead of a larger assistance scheme still to be announced.

On ABC’s Insiders, Morrison announced support for a royal commission into the bushfire crisis — however, he equivocated on climate action, hinting at “evolving” current schemes while refusing a carbon tax or NEG, both of which have been welcomed by some extremely generous News Corp editorials.

FIGHTING FIRES

Melbourne and much of Victoria will see the return of “poor” or “very poor” smoke from the East Gippsland fires over the following days, while Sydney could see a slight reprieve after yesterday hitting “hazardous” levels.

But calmer conditions over the weekend have helped firefighters bring a number of Australia’s hundreds of blazes under control, including the two-and-a-half-month-strong Gospers Mountain mega-blaze north-west of Sydney. The Princes Highway and road to Mallacoota, however, could be blocked for a month.

The Guardian reports that Victorian firefighters, while mourning the death of veteran Bill Slade, brought a fire near Mount Buffalo down from ‘emergency’ to ‘watch-and-act’, and that SA firefighters have similarly contained Kangaroo Island’s fire ahead of increased temperatures today.

For the latest updates, visit VicEmergency, SA Country Fire Service, NSW RFS or EmergencyWA. For air pollution, check the Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map.