The winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize, Richard Flanagan, says he is "saddened" due to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's environmental policies.
Flanagan won the prize on Tuesday for his novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which concerns prisoners and their captors on the Burma railway.
The distinguished novelist was a guest on BBC Two's Newsnight on Tuesday night, following the awards ceremony.
The Tasmanian author was asked about Abbott's recent comment that "coal is good for humanity" on the occasion of his opening of a coalmine in Queensland on Monday.
"I'm very saddened because Australia has the most extraordinary environment and I don't understand why our government seems committed to destroying what we have that's unique in the world," Flanagan said.
