Her comments follow Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, the National Party leader, dismissed people making this link as "the ravings of some pure, enlightened and woke capital city greenies" on Monday.

Dr Webster said her colleague's concerns were that people's lives had changed forever.

"That should be the focus. There should not be a politicisation of these tragedies," she said.

"Michael McCormack's response was in frustration - that our focus should be on our fellow Australians getting through these tough circumstances.

"What we're dealing with here are the immediate traumas of droughts and fires, and we're trying to assist communities to be able to survive.

"At the same time, in the background, there are climate solutions programs being developed - but nothing at this point in time is going to take the drought and fires away. People need to understand that.

"There is an appropriate time to talk about climate change policy, but we should not be making that the issue right now. It's just inappropriate."

Dr Webster said zero-interest loans for farmers and small businesses, worth $709 million, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced last week was an example of the government's response to the drought - which is affecting parts of the Mallee electorate.

She said it had become "very difficult" to take the politics out of climate change, though this was necessary.

"The problem with the climate change discussion is that it has been one that can very easily overwhelm and disempower people, and I don't think that's really helpful," she said.

She said Mallee residents wanted climate change "dealt with yesterday".

"There is little tolerance from some for anything but a zero-emissions target by 2030. That's not going to happen, and I don't support it anyway," she said.

"I believe we need to be working hard to ensure we are responsible, but we also need to be mindful we make up 1.3 per cent of the issue, and a global solution needs to be found here.

"China, the US and India are the major players, and unless they come on board with some major change we will still be battling bushfires and drought, and we probably will anyway because we always have."

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