Photo: Christie Panozzo

Welcome to Australia, folks! Land of snow in unexpected places.

Admittedly, that photo was taken in Ballarat. It gets cold in Ballarat. Not usually this cold but, yeah, cold. Ish.

But this one:

Photo: Quentin Kelly

That’s in Lorne. Lorne is a seaside town. It doesn’t often get snow as a rule.

So (if you’re not from around here and subscribe to the Oz stereotype), you’re probably thinking, “Well, there goes that Aussie beach holiday we were thinking of taking.”

Not a problem. Come in summer. We don’t get snow in summer. Not even on our highest mountain.

It’s hot in summer. In fact, last year was our hottest year ever.

Of course, if you come in summer, you’ll have to contend with the bushfires. Apparently, they’ve been getting more intense and more frequent lately. It’s so bad in some places, it makes the phrase “making a tree-change” sound like a death-wish.

Black Saturday Bushfires. Source: Herald Sun

According to our government, of course, this is all normal. Carry on, folks. Nothing to see here.

They’re so not worried about it, they’ve just removed our ‘price on carbon’ mechanism that was actually reducing carbon emissions. That, you know, contribute to climate change. That, you know, is changing the Earth’s climate. That, you know, causes more bushfires, snow in strange places, floods, hurricanes, stuff like that.

But not to worry. Hotter summers means more time in the ol’ Speedos, right?

The Australian Prime Minister