Bureaucrat left in charge of ARENA

All appointed board members of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have had their terms expire and have not been replaced, leaving it governed by the secretary of the Department of the Environment, Guardian Australia has learned.

The same thing happened in 2014 while Tony Abbott was prime minister, and the move has now been criticised as an attempt by the Turnbull government to remove the independence of the agency.

According to legislation, the board must consist of the secretary of the Department of the Environment and up to six others appointed by the minister. The agency can operate with the secretary being the only board member, since it reaches quorum when a majority of the board members are present, which now occurs with one.

Read The Guardian story - “Renewables agency stripped of members and run by bureaucrat.”

(The urgency of responding to climate change escapes many people, particularly, obviously, Australia’s Federal Government. Rather than showing a distinct disinterest toward organizations such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and allowing them to wilt and maybe die, the Malcolm Turnbull-led government should be bolstering these bodies and putting them, and their advice, at the heart of any government processes and decisions – Robert McLean.)