The head of Australia’s Covid-19 commission, Nev Power, is still being paid director’s fees by the gas company Strike Energy, the government has confirmed.
The National Covid-19 Commission, which was set up to guide Australia’s economic recovery, has pushed for additional government support of the gas sector.
In May it was reported that Power, a former Fortescue Metals chief, had stepped back from his role as deputy chairman at Strike Energy to avoid any perceived conflict in his role as NCC chair.
In June Power was questioned by the Covid-19 Senate inquiry about whether he was still receiving director’s fees from Strike Energy. He said at the time that he wasn’t sure but probably was.
A response to a question on notice published last week confirmed that Power is, in fact, still receiving the fees.
The confirmation has prompted criticism from the environmental activist group 350.org.
Its chief executive, Lucy Manne, said this further highlighted the problems surrounding the lack of accountability and transparency within the NCC.
“Mr Power is still receiving remuneration from Strike Energy, a gas company with interests in the Perth and Cooper basins – two of the basins that Scott Morrison named as priority basins he hopes to unlock,” Manne said. “This doesn’t pass the pub test.”
An NCC spokesman referred Guardian Australia to previous comments made by Power during the June inquiry hearings, when he said he had taken the role at the request of the prime minister to help through the crisis.
“When I took the role on, it was not intended that I step back from any of my other interests,” Power said at the time.
“This was to be purely an advisory role; we are not decision makers and therefore there was no requirement for me to curtail any of my business activities. I don’t believe there are any areas where I have breached any public interest or conflict-of-interest rules, but there have been perceptions of it raised, so, as a result of that, I elected to stand down from those two boards – I still retain my role on the two not-for-profit boards – and to step back from my private business affairs on anything that could be perceived as a conflict.”
Power has also not attended a board meeting of Strike Energy since joining the NCC.
Board meeting minutes from May also note that Power had advised Strike Energy it was not appropriate for him to “vote on any operational or strategic matters at Strike Energy which could give rise to perceptions of a conflict of interest”.
