The New South Wales deputy premier and the agriculture minister both say the National Parks and Wildlife Service did not do enough in the lead-up to the bushfire season, but the public sector union says the government has “crippled” the agency with budget cuts and restructuring.

Deputy Premier and NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro told The Australian the NPWS had failed to carry out enough backburning.

At state and federal level, members of the Coalition have rejected any suggestion of a link between bushfire risk and climate change as an attempt to politicise the current bushfires and their tragic consequences, while fuelling the questionable belief that hazard reduction burning has been limited in response to environmentalist concerns.

Parks and Wildlife funding cuts in the spotlight as NSW Nationals play the blame game