Australia's climate policy is being dictated by a former accountant in a cowboy hat

Australia's Prime Minister Morrison Scott Morrison made it clear his loyalty lies with his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, and not with international allies who are urging Australia to take greater action to cut emissions.

Two more weeks of Covid-19 quarantine would be too much, Scott Morrison said on Friday, claiming that while there are "a lot of international interests," the most important audience for his yet-to-be-unveiled climate plan remains at home.

"My first and most important group that I need to talk to about our plan is not overseas. It's right here in Australia," he said. "It's talking to people in regional Australia, how the deputy prime minister and I believe our plan will help them in their communities, how our plan will help them realize their future."