The Hon. Scott Morrison
Prime Minister of Australia
PO Box 6022
Canberra ACT 2600
17 June 2020
CC:
Peter Harris, CEO, National Covid-19 Coordination Commission
Neville Power, Chair, National Covid-19 Coordination Commission
Consultation regarding the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission
Dear Prime Minister,
We write as organisations representing more than one million Australians with a deep interest in
the direction of the economic recovery following the impacts of Covid-19. While any loss of life
is tragic, we acknowledge that the Government’s adherence to independent expert advice has so
far mitigated the risks of the far more serious consequences we have seen around the world.
We note that our organisations are listed on the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission
(the Commission) website as organisations with which the Commission has engaged. We also
note that on June 4, Chair of the Commission, Mr. Power, gave evidence to the Senate
Committee into Covid-19, where he stated that the Commission has consulted with over 1,000
organisations, and that these organisations are listed on the Commission’s website.
We write to inform you that our organisations have not been consulted by the National
Covid-19 Coordination Commission, and to express our disappointment at the
Commission’s lack of meaningful engagement with the environment and climate change
sectors.
Integrity concerns regarding the Commission
We are deeply concerned that the Commission lacks fair representation of the Australian
community, has no transparent public consultation or accountability mechanisms, and has not
made public any of its materials including policies to guide the Commission, modelling to
inform its work, submissions or even its conflicts of interest register.
As the International Energy Agency1, the Bank of International Settlements2
and others have pointed out, the present economic conditions create an opportunity to accelerate the deployment
of renewable energy, renewable energy infrastructure, and storage while accelerating the
decarbonisation of the manufacturing and other sectors. We are concerned that the Commission
as it is presently composed will miss opportunities to set Australia up to thrive in the 21st
century, and could lock in projects and infrastructure with long lead times and returns on
investment that would make it more difficult for Australia to prosper in a rapidly changing
world. We also note references within the leaked Manufacturing Taskforce interim report to
reducing environmental protections while the Graeme Samuel review of the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is ongoing, and the risks this would pose to
our response to the ongoing biodiversity crisis.
Representation concerns regarding the Commission
We note that the Commission has no representation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
organisations and businesses, virtually no representation from sectors most impacted by Covid19,
such as tourism, hospitality and the arts, and is weighted to sectors that will fuel climate
change and are unlikely to drive the necessary economic activity due to their capital-intensive
nature.
A fair economic recovery
We would urge the Government to ensure that any economic recovery agency be transparent,
independent, accountable, representative, guided by expert advice, invest in good quality jobs
and acknowledge the need to meet our fair share of global commitments to keep warming well
below two degrees and as close to 1.5 degrees as possible in line with our greater capabilities and
responsibilities.
Recent modelling by EY for WWF Australia found that zero-emissions stimulus in the
electricity, transport and manufacturing sectors alone would create at least 100,000 jobs, with a
labour-intensity three times higher than equivalent investment in fossil fuels.
We are calling for four crucial measures to be put in place to ensure the community can have
faith in any body tasked with economic recovery: a publicly available conflict of interest register;
broad representation of the Australian community; full transparency of operations of any such
body and its recommendations to Government; and a commitment from Government to not
support stimulus measures that will exacerbate climate change.
1
https://www.iea.org/commentaries/put-clean-energy-at-the-heart-of-stimulus-plans-to-counter-thecoronavirus-crisis
2
https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp200514.pdf
Our organisations stand ready to support work to quickly develop a climate-ready economic
recovery.
Signed,
David Ritter, CEO Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Amelia Young, cNational Campaigns Directorc The Wilderness Society
Darren Kindleysides, CEO Australian Marine Conservation Society
John Hepburn, Co-Executive Director The Sunrise Project
Daniel Gocher, Director of Climate and Environment
Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility
Letter regarding NCCC consultation
