Labor-linked climate charity pays executives $400,000

The ALP is being urged to cut ties with the Smart Energy Council following revelations the charity’s executives earn double that of managers in other climate-change organisations.

Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes, right, and Energy Minister Chris Bowen in January. Picture: Smart Energy Council

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The ALP is facing calls to cut ties with the Smart Energy Council following revelations the charity’s executives earn double that of managers in other climate-change organisations and in the wake of concerns raised over its links to Chinese companies accused of using slave labour.

Financial statements from the SEC – which has played a central role in the campaign following the release of its $600bn costing of the Coalition’s nuclear policy – reveal the charity paid more than $1.3m to management staff last year, despite there being only three such personnel.

By comparison, the Australian Conservation Foundation pays $1.2m to seven managers, while climate change charity Race for 2030 pays $1.2m to nine employees.

The figures, which show the three SEC managers earn an average of more than $400,000 a year, put the executives salaries at about that of a cabinet minister.

The SEC, led by chief executive John Grimes, holds charity status despite having donated to the Labor Party in the past and run partisan campaigns calling on voters to “chuck out” Scott Morrison with stickers plastered across households’ bins before the Australian Electoral Commission demanded the organisation stop selling the materials.

Scrutiny over the salaries paid to the executives of the SEC, and its ongoing charity status, follows concerns raised with the organisation’s links to Chinese companies black-listed by the US due to accusations they were using slave labour for the manufacture of solar panels.

SEC members including teal backer Simon Holmes a Court – an adviser and former board member of the charity – appear in photos posted in 2019 by solar manufacturer Jinko, which was later raided by the US Department of Homeland Security.

The SEC maintains its links to Jinko, with the company having been an exhibitor at the charity’s major conference earlier this year, despite reports of its ongoing “high exposure” to slave labour.

Opposition climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien said the issues surrounding the SEC needed to be addressed by Labor.

“At the heart of Labor’s attack against the Coalition’s energy policy is a $600bn lie created by an organisation that receives money from people allegedly using slave labour,” he said.

“Labor should either distance itself from the organisation or guarantee the Australian people that none of its foreign sponsors are involved in slave labour activity.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers with Mr Grimes, in centre, and SEC staff in a February-dated image. Picture: Smart Energy Council's Facebook page

The Coalition for years has been seeking to have the SEC stripped of its charity status, with campaign spokesman James Paterson writing to the AEC this month after the SEC launched a dedicated website titled “Double under Dutton” that argued bills would soar under the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton.

SEC president Don Henry said the organisation’s salaries were “benchmarked against peak industry body averages”.

“We are proud of the impact the Smart Energy Council has as a peak industry body for the renewable energy industry,” he said.

The SEC said the allegations against its Chinese sponsors regarding slave labour should be put to the companies themselves.

A spokeswoman for Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said Mr O’Brien needed to reflect on his own links to problematic organisations before coming after the SEC.

“When it comes to associations with groups, Mr O’Brien might want to dissociate himself from Advance and other billionaire-funded front groups spreading lies about renewable energy,” she said.

“Labor has a policy of making solar panels, batteries and other parts of the renewable energy supply chain in Australia. Mr O’Brien and the Liberals oppose this policy, so he needs to look at his own policy before casting stones at others.”