He didn't reaffirm the 45 per cent 2030 emissions reduction target the ALP campaigned on, and has said nothing about what the 2030 target should be.

The Coalition is committed to a 26-28 per cent reduction in net emissions by the end of the decade under the terms of the Paris agreement. It campaigned hard against Labor's much more ambitious target in 2018 and 2019, repeatedly challenging the then Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, to provide costings.

Labor, smarting in the wake of the election loss, backed away from the anti-coal, pro-Greens stance which played a big part in the loss of a large chunk of blue collar votes and key Queensland seats.

It appears that now, following the re-emergence of global heating, carbon emissions, climate change and the environment as a major political issue in the wake of the "black summer", Labor is trying to have a bet each way.

It isn't on the one hand, opposed to the extension of coal mining in the Galilee Basin and says it is supportive of mining towns and mining jobs. But, on the other hand, it is keen to be seen to be talking a good game on carbon emissions and climate change.

Labor's Adani position is now even more vexed given India's decision to stop importing thermal coal within four years. Adani, still a long way off sending its first shovel of coal to the coast, was ostensibly commissioned to meet a market that will soon cease to exist.

If not then Australian taxpayers will have forked out billions of dollars in concessions and subsidies for very little return.

The similarities between Labor's wishy-washy mish-mash of climate and energy policies and the Coalition's "Black Summer" royal commission are strikingly obvious.

Both have been conceived to create the illusion of leadership and the promise of action on climate change without doing much of anything at all.

Mr Morrison, for example, was quick to talk up an apparent epiphany on the obvious link between climate change and the summer from hell we've just experienced on Thursday.

"This royal commission accepts, it acknowledges, it understands, the impact of climate change, more broadly, on the climatic conditions that Australia is living in," he said.

Then, in a volte face, he announced terms of reference that focused on "practical matters". Climate science doesn't get a guernsey. The key topics include preparedness and recovery, natural disasters, hazard reduction burns, wildlife conservation, development approvals and a raft of other matters mainly the preserve of the states.

Australians have, once again, been let down by the major political parties on an issue that is vital to the national interest. Both are offering lots of shadow and very little substance.

Where's the deep work being done to plan our transmission network upgrades to allow renewables to enter the grid? What does Labor believe a realistic and achievable 2030 target should be? What is our plan to kick start a world leading renewable energy industry as proposed by Garnaut?

And, most importantly, when will they begin to work towards a bipartisan approach on these issues?

This isn't leadership, it's just politics as usual. Unfortunately, as this summer has shown, we don't have time for that any more.