1. Fires ravage NSW
The Rural Fire Service will assess today how many properties were damaged on what it described as the "the most dangerous day in NSW history" with more than 100 fires burning across the state. [Fairfax Live updates]
Overnight the news was more positive with conditions easing but several fires continue to rage out of control and mobile reception is down in some places. [ABC]
![Fires are ravaging NSW.](/web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/6/c/2/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gub890.png/1486922961154.jpg)
With this heatwave, where temperatures reached 47 degrees in Western Sydney, south-eastern Australia is now the hottest place on the planet. [Peter Hannam/Fairfax]
As Clive Hamilton points out, Scott Morrison may come to regret his childish antics in bringing a lump of coal into Parliament to spruik dirty energy production.
Aust'n temp records smashed. Fire danger 'catastrophic'. Govt ministers laugh as wave lump of coal at those who want clean energy. Wicked. pic.twitter.com/4mefkB4OJ2
— Clive Hamilton (@CliveCHamilton) February 12, 2017
2. Aus politics
On the policy front it's all about energy and donations.
Mark Kenny is reporting that broken infrastructure and not renewables was to blame for South Australia's blackout last year, but the Turnbull government chose to ignore this advice when they blamed clean energy instead. [Fairfax]
So expect this opinion piece from Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, in which he continues to blame renewables (and Labor) for the outage, to come into focus today. [The Australian]
Eighteen groups have united in calling on politicians to quit the "partisan antics" and sort out the energy sector, amid spiralling electricity costs and blackouts. [Adam Gartrell/Fairfax]
Michelle Grattan also reports Labor is to introduce a bill to reform donations disclosures. [The Conversation]
And now to a concerning development in politics that should be worrying every decent centre-right MP.
The Liberal party has abandoned John Howard's approach to the far-right, anti-immigration party One Nation (destroy them) and decided to legitimise them by preferencing them second – and ahead of their coalition partners the Nationals – in the upcoming Western Australian state election.
Or as Michelle Grattan, with her decades of corporate memory, puts it, the Liberals have "normalised" the party. [The Conversation]
Howard's former chief of staff and a principal advisor to Malcolm Turnbull, Arthur Sinodinos, says One Nation is a lot more "sophisticated."
![Senator Pauline Hanson and her increasingly powerful chief of staff James Ashby.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/0/n/o/d/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1485208391308.png)
Senator Pauline Hanson and her increasingly powerful chief of staff James Ashby. Photo: Andrew Meares
Perhaps, but a slick social media operation orchestrated by the savvy staffer James Ashby does not mean the Liberal party should be in the business of publicly accepting the party, let alone aligning themselves with their anti-immigration and – let's face it – anti-Islam views.
This is not to deny that immigration and Islamic terrorism are issues concerning the public, but to stress that a centre-right party focussed on government should always be making the point that reactionary fringe parties will never provide viable solutions.
If the Liberals endorse and reinforce One Nation through preferencing, they risk more of their MPs being picked off through defections and their voter base thinking reactionary politics is the benchmark from which to begin, instead of a non-viable extremity.
![Pauline Hanson posted her bizarre chat with Tony Abbott to her Facebook page.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/5/y/9/0/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1472694176018.png)
Pauline Hanson posted her bizarre chat with Tony Abbott to her Facebook page. Photo: Facebook
John Howard knew this. He dispatched Tony Abbott to destroy the party and the risk it posed, but now Abbott prefers a cup of tea with Hanson.
The Liberals embrace of One Nation is also a reflection of the reality that 20 years on from One Nation's first inception, the times have changed and populism is in fashion.
![Ross Cameron speaks at a fundraiser for Kirralie Smith at the North Ryde RSL on Thursday.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/9/t/j/n/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486792939242.png)
Ross Cameron speaks at a fundraiser for Kirralie Smith at the North Ryde RSL on Thursday. Photo: Wolter Peeters
Which brings me neatly to this repugnant Q event held in Sydney over the weekend in which cartoonist Larry Pickering endorsed Islamic State's horrific killings of gays and former Liberal MP Ross Cameron described the NSW party as a gay members' club.
![Conservative senator Cory Bernardi speaks at the anti-halal fundraiser in Melbourne.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/a/m/6/y/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486864380728.png)
Conservative senator Cory Bernardi speaks at the anti-halal fundraiser in Melbourne. Photo: ABC News
Notably Cory Bernardi and George Christensen attended the event. What is that they say about the company you keep?
The president of the New South Wales Liberal party has condemned the event, which Bernardi described as an "own goal" but doesn't think Cameron should apologise. [Sean Nicholls, Stephanie Peatling/Fairfax]
As Bernardi rightly points out, if conservatives fail to take a strong enough stand against this kind of repugnance, then they can hardly expect support for attempts to reduce free speech restrictions, like section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which currently makes it unlawful to "insult" or "offend" a person based on their race.
David Crowe reports on several options to amend the clause, possibly by replacing insult and offend with "vilify" and "harass" and/or adding a truth defence. [The Australian]
And don't miss Amanda Vanstone letting fly at Cory Bernardi in this insult-laden piece. "The plain fact is that people see him as a self-opinionated tosser," says the former Howard government minister who also outs Bernardi as a former moderate! [The Age]
3. Trump and North Korea
![U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minter, while posing for photographs before a joint news conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. Japan and the U.S. will begin new talks on trade and investment following President Donald Trump?s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the two governments said in a statement after their leaders met in Washington on Friday. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Bloomberg](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/1/d/9/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486873661765.png)
Photo: Chip Somodevilla
US President Donald Trump has farewelled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after a bout of golfing diplomacy. The visit was as bizarre as you have come to expect from Trump. [John Wagner/The Washington Post]
The pair condemned North Korea's firing of a test missile toward the Sea of Japan and Trump said "American stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%." [Fairfax]
Really interesting piece from Geoff Raby, a former Ambassador for Australia to China, on how Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has quietly shifted Australia's position on China closer to Beijing and away from Washington now that Donald Trump is in the White House. [Financial Review]
4. British politics
Like the relative no-one wants at their wedding and the tricky and delicate task of deciding upon whose table to inflict them, Donald Trump's state visit might be moved to pro-Brexit Birmingham, such is the backlash to the brash US president in London. [Chris Hope/Telegraph]
If they are trying to avoid protests, I'm not sure that will work – when I covered the Tory conference in Birmingham, the protest was a decent size and high in volume.
Anywhere but London is also the deal after the Tory Speaker John Bercow vetoed Trump addressing parliament, which many MPs from across the parliament supported.
![House of Commons Speaker John Bercow says he is strongly opposed to Donald Trump addressing parliament.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/6/v/g/g/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486879912134.png)
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow says he is strongly opposed to Donald Trump addressing parliament. Photo: Screenshot/BBC
But some pro-Trump Conservatives are calling for Bercow's head, saying he's breached his obligation to be neutral at all times. He will face a vote of no-confidence next week. [The Telegraph]
![Jeremy Corbyn MP gives the thumbs up to supporters.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/n/s/g/z/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1475048737250.png)
Jeremy Corbyn MP gives the thumbs up to supporters. Photo: Getty Images
The shambles that is the British Labour party continues unravelling with The Sunday Times publishing a report saying the party has started testing new leaders to replace the hapless Jeremy Corbyn. [James Lyons]
Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson says now is not the time for a leadership election, saying last year's bout settled that question for this parliament. [BBC]
But a top party official says the party has "plenty of leaders to pick from if and when Jeremy decides, of his own volition, that it's not for him at the election." [Heather Stewart/The Guardian]
Which means this new push is all about forcing Corbyn to jump.
On it goes.
5. War in Syria
![A city street in Aleppo.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/a/l/g/b/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486747850009.png)
A city street in Aleppo. Photo: AP
Hezbollah, which backs the Assad regime, says large parts of Syria are now safe for refugees to return home, with Assad regaining control. The group says the Lebanese government should work with Damascus to help refugees return. [AFP]
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey wants to be part of the operation to reclaim Raqqa from Islamic State.
Using the word "cleanse", Erdogan says he wants to clear a 5,000 square kilometre area around al-Bab and Raqqa of jihadists.
But this will also include the pro-regime YPG Kurds who are aligned with Hezbollah and backed by Washington (who will launch the fight to reclaim Raqqa after Mosul in Iraq). [Reuters]
6. Fillon scandal goes on
![Conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170217160504im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/1/s/0/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1486066680040.png)
Conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope. Photo: AP
French Ppresidential candidate Francois Fillon is reported to be facing further legal action over allegations he paid his wife with taxpayer funds for allegedly fake work in his office. [Sky News Britain]
And that's it from me today – you can follow me on Facebook for more.