Clarke, associate professor at the School of International and Political Studies said "It may be very difficult for those who want weaker carbon reduction scheme targets or those who want to see it delayed to put those arguments into the public sphere. The atmosphere might be more hostile to those arguments".
The fires tore through communities on the outskirts of Melbourne, fueled by heatwave conditions and strong winds. Melbourne's temperature on Saturday hit 46.4 degrees Celsius (115.5 degrees Fahrenheit), a record for the city.
The Australian government released a policy document, or White Paper, in December outlining its plans for carbon trading as part of its strategy to fight climate change.
Under the scheme, the government set a target to cut carbon emissions by 5 percent in 2020- as compared to levels seen in 2000 and 15 percent if there is global agreement at the end of this year on a broader pact to fight climate change.
But the Greens, citing the fires and severe flooding in northern Australia, are calling for tougher targets.
The Greens and two independents hold the balance of power in the Senate and the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to face a tough time getting the emissions trading legislation passed by the Upper House later this year.
BIG Climate Change AGENDA
Industry and particularly big coal-fired power generation firms, say the trading scheme will be too costly. The liquefied natural gas industry, which earns billion of dollars in exports, has said the scheme could force them to move offshore. Heather Ridout, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group, told Reuters in a statement that: "Climate Change is a big agenda that should be considered in its own space and it would be irresponsible to find cover for a climate change argument in the bushfires".
A number of analysts say the fires were predictable and that climate scientists have been warning for years about the continent's vulnerability to rising temperatures and declining rainfall across much of the nation's south. "I would compare this current bushfire event to one of the ghosts in Dickens' Christmas Carol that visits Scrooge and showed him what his future would be like if he didn't change his ways," stated professor Barry Brook, director of the Research Institute for Climate Change & Sustainability at the University of Adelaide.
"The real danger in the White Paper is not the 5 percent target, it's the 15 percent target. So that's what the Greens should be advocating, changing the international negotiating target and make it as hard as possible."
However, there was also a risk to investors if the government kept changing the targets because of financial or climate shocks. "The fundamental flaw with the policy of the White Paper is that it's a political compromise, not a clear plan. And a political compromise will be blown in the wind, depending on what shock comes along," said leading climate change policy analyst Warwick McKibbin, executive director of the Center for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis in Canberra. He followed that "It's very important to have a clear, transparent plan that builds constituencies and clarity about the future so that when something comes along, the policy doesn't fall over."