Until last week, the Net Zero Economy Agency (NZEA) was a bit of a black box.
Tasked with overseeing Australia’s transition to a net zero future, including coordinating investment in green industry projects and managing the workforce transition, the NZEA has made few, if any, public statements about its progress since it was created as a government agency within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in July 2023.
Proof of life arrived last week when legislation to transform the agency into an independent statutory body, to be named the Net Zero Economy Authority, was introduced to parliament. Then today, its chair Greg Combet, a former cabinet minister who sits at the unique intersection of finance and green politics in Australia, fronted the National Press Club.
His address took place at a time when there is a growing sense the government is losing the upper hand in the politics of climate change. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen have taken a beating in the tabloid press this week for taking separate RAAF jets to the formal announcement of a $1 billion subsidy program for onshore solar panel manufacturing.
