Source : Perth Now news
The Coalition says Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean should be fired if he does not resign for billing taxpayers tens of thousands to attend a major international summit where he spoke on a panel backed by his private employer.
Mr Kean’s travel to Brazil for COP30 last year cost taxpayers more than $32,000, with business class flights alone coming in at $22,000, The Daily Telegraph revealed on Tuesday.
His mission was “to promote the work of the authority and Australia’s COP31 bid” – a bid that was ultimately lost to Turkey.
But while at the summit he was on a panel sponsored by green investment firm Wollemi Capital titled “Next Stop: COP31 – Supporting Australia’s Climate Leadership”.
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said the Albanese government “has some serious questions to answer”.
“How has (Energy Minister Chris Bowen) allowed Matt Kean, his climate tsar, to fly to COP in Brazil and then promote the company he works for,” he said, adding that Mr Kean “has not been able to properly address the huge conflict of interest he has between the private company he works for and his role as climate change tsar”.
“You have to remember that he ultimately makes the decisions that sets the targets for the government when it comes to emissions reduction.”
Mr Tehan said it was problematic because the company for which Mr Kean works “benefits from the decisions that the government makes”.
He went on to say that Mr Bowen must “explain what firewalls he’s putting place, why he hasn’t put them in place already, and what action he’s taking to make sure there is good governance”.
He said Mr Kean should either quit his role as Climate Change Authority chair or leave Wollemi Capital “or a third, potentially, he should do both”.
“But it is untenable that this continues and Chris Bowen needs to act, and he needs to act on this today,” Mr Tehan said.
