Senator's wild claim: bushfires lit by 'eco-terrorists'

This is despite authorities in several states stating the vast majority of the fires were not deliberately lit.

In a Senate speech this week, Senator Fierravanti-Wells began by offering her condolences to those affected by the bushfires.

Then she took a right turn and appeared to suggest the fires were deliberately lit by activists looking to bolster their campaign on climate change.

"Today, we live in a society characterised by extreme activism and, perhaps, eco-terrorism," the Senator said.

"Vocal minorities disregard the rule of law in pursuit of their objectives."

READ MORE: The night thousands sheltered on the beaches

Then she claimed the "media build-up of an impeding hot, dry summer appears to have set the scene for the unhinged, including those with criminal intent, to act."

"It defies logic that the number of bushfires in different parts of Australia took hold so quickly and apparently all at once, thereby destroying property, livelihoods and wildlife and, in worst-case scenarios, causing the deaths of 33 people," Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.

She also called on the government to analyse satellite surveillance to hunt down these supposed arsonists.

The arson claim is startlingly similar to conspiracy theories bandied about on social media blaming left-wing eco-terrorists for starting the fires to spark action on climate change.

It also flies in the face of what fire authorities have said about the cause of the fires.

Last month NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said this season's fires "had been dominated by natural causes, mainly lightning".

"No doubt some of the biggest and most destructive fires we've seen throughout this season have been generated by dry thunderstorms and lightning," he said.

Victorian Police have also said there was "no intelligence" to indicate fires in that state had been deliberately lit.