As the prime minister promoted cricket during the bushfire emergency, a group of Bega Valley residents displaced from the region due to the current fire threat have held a cricket match on the lawns of Parliament House.
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Over 20 locals who evacuated to Canberra while several bushfires devastate the Far South Coast came together on Sunday for the cricket match - kept short due to the hazardous smoke in the nation's capital.
Organiser Vivian Harris said those at the match were calling for a greater commitment from the federal government to preventing and combatting bushfires.
"The PM [Scott Morrison] needs to A) do something about the cause of fires which is climate change, and B) give more resources to the South Coast," she said.
She said Mr Morrison's response to residents of Cobargo during his recent visit to the town, widely covered by different media organisations, was "appalling" and people were "rightfully angry".
"Zoey [Salucci-McDermott] asked for more resources and he turned his back on her," the Bega resident said.
"That's why we thought cricket might be the way to his heart.
"There was a Hawaiian dress code. We raided Op Shops for Hawaiian gear so he'd feel at home."
In November, Mr Morrison published a tweet stating the summer's cricket would give firefighters and fire-impacted communities "something to cheer for".
On January 2, at a reception for the Australian and New Zealand cricket teams he said the bushfires affecting the nation were occurring "against the backdrop of this test match".
"Whether they're started by lightning storms or whatever the cause may be, our firefighters and all of those have come behind them to support them, whether they're volunteering on the front line or behind the scenes in a great volunteer effort, it is something that will happen against the backdrop of this test match," the PM said.
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Ms Harris said some people at the Climate Refugees from South Coast Fires Cricket Match were members of Climate Action Mobilisation (CAM) Bega, but others were not.
"It was really good to get together and feel like we were doing something, to help raise awareness for the South Coast and climate change," she said.
She said she may organise another protest cricket match, depending on how long the bushfire emergency lasts in the Bega Valley.
CAM Bega member Simon Szanto said the call for more resources for firefighting was a bipartisan issue.
"We're all in this together and we need to do whatever we can, whether that is providing donations, volunteering or raising awareness," he said.