“I’ve always been a Liberal, I will always be a Liberal, but I am an Australian first and foremost,” he says.
What does he say to those who think he has deserted his side of politics?
“This is about public service, this is about an opportunity to serve Australians and ensure we’re best placed to lower household energy bills, grow our economy and set us up for a better future,” he says.
As chair of the authority, Kean will have plenty of scope to take board seats and other positions in the private sector as they emerge. He says he has none on the agenda at this point. The current chair, Grant King, who departs in early August, is a prominent company director and former managing director of Origin Energy.
(Another board member, Sam Mostyn, stepped down earlier this year to take up her post as governor-general next week.)
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Kean is not hinting at his view on the biggest decision for the authority this year: whether it tells the government to commit to a much deeper target than its planned 43 per cent cut in emissions by 2030. A new goal for 2035 must be set, and some climate campaigners say it should be at least 60 per cent, but the authority will not send its advice until the final three months of the year.
The government is unlikely to decide the 2035 target until after the federal election. Labor wants the election debate to be all about Dutton’s decision not to have a 2030 target at all.
Kean set a state target of 70 per cent by 2035 when he was in government, so the environmental movement will want him to hold firm to that ideal.
But Albanese and Bowen are no doubt confident that Kean will not surprise them with a radical proposal as chair of this new agency. Kean is, after all, a member of the Liberal Party’s moderate wing.
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