Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has quietly set up an “office of the presidency” in his department, a move the opposition says shows Mr Bowen’s “ego is completely and utterly out of control”.
Mr Bowen is the president of negotiations for the next Conference of the Parties – the world’s top climate change summit under the United Nations framework – in a compromise deal struck with Turkey in ceding the bid to host the conference in Adelaide.
A Department of Climate Change and Energy organisational chart, published this month, showed the government had created a new “office of the presidency” under the “International and Climate Negotiations” division.
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan demanded information about how many people were employed under this new office of the presidency in the Climate Change and Energy Department.
Mr Bowen hit back at the criticism, saying it showed the Coalition was “embarrassingly out of touch, and not fit to govern”.
Mr Tehan also lashed an admission in the budget papers, released last week, where the government acknowledged it could not report the total government expenditure on net zero because it “cuts across many portfolios”.
“Existing budget systems do not readily facilitate reporting on established programs,” it said.
Mr Tehan said the admission showed “the government has no clue about how much they are spending on net zero”.
“So during a cost-of-living crisis, when Australians are doing it tough, the government is happy to have no idea about how much they’re spending on net zero,” he said.
“It is an absolute disgrace.”
Mr Bowen was unveiled as the global COP president of negotiations for the coming year after the last installation of the summit in Brazil in November. The Coalition at the time lashed the “part-time Energy Minister”.
“What this shows is that Chris Bowen’s ego is completely and utterly out of control,” Mr Tehan said on Sunday of the new COP office.
“He has no comprehension about what his policies are doing to the Australian people … All he wants to do is strut around the world, calling himself a president.
“The serious question is: How many people are actually working in this office of presidency? And Chris Bowen needs to answer that immediately.”
Mr Bowen did not say how many people were employed by that office but hit back at Mr Tehan’s criticism.
“It beggars belief that during an international energy crisis, the opposition doesn’t think it’s important to engage with the rest of the world,” Mr Bowen said.
“They’re embarrassingly out of touch, and not fit to govern.
“It’s up to Dan Tehan to explain why he’s backing an energy plan that would leave the economy $2 trillion worse off by 2050 and electricity prices 50 per cent higher by the 2040s.
“It shows how out of touch with reality the modern Liberal Party is that they think the Australian government shouldn’t take up a chance to lead international negotiations when given the opportunity.”
Mr Bowen has previously rejected the characterisation of “part-time minister”.
“This is entirely in keeping with my responsibilities as Australia’s Climate Minister,” he said earlier this year.
“Obviously, we’re involved in discussion internationally. The difference now will be – I’ll go to the same meetings, but the difference now will be Australia will be regarded with greater weight and influence.”
Read related topics:Climate Change