Yesterday the CEO of @AGLAustralia resigned. The interim CEO of AGL - Australia's biggest single carbon polluter - is now Graeme Hunt. Here's what we know about him (THREAD 1/n) #auspol #ClimateAction #tellagl

Graeme Peter Hunt, prior to yesterday's news, was Chairman of the AGL Board since 1 September 2012. Prior to that he held various positions in the resource sector and its lobbying arms

These are dominated by his 30 year career at @bhp, including President Uranium, President Aluminium, President Iron Ore, Group General Manager Manganese, General Manager Port Kembla Coal Terminal and NSW Port Manager.

Hunt was Vice Chairman of the anti-climate action Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) from 11 September 2007 to 28 May 2009, and had been a board member of MCA (not directly) prior to that. Hunt appears to have scrubbed this from his LinkedIn profile and his AGL profile.

In 2015, Hunt was President of the Board at Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA). AMMA ‘prides itself on providing members with a direct conduit to politicians’. Hunt met numerous politicians while an AMMA member, board member and ultimately President of the Board.

Hunt was CEO and Managing Director of Transfield (renamed Broadspectrum and now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ferrovial) from November 2012 to December 2016. During Hunt’s time as CEO and MD, Transfield operated Australia’s two offshore detention centres.

From 2009 to 2012, Hunt operated his lobby firm, G.P. Hunt Associates Ltd.

Here are some comments from Hunt about climate action:

‘We [AGL] will also continue to support actions consistent with the goals of the Paris Accord. However the board believes it is important that any transition of the energy sector takes place in an orderly manner.’

' “The Paris accord is an agreement between countries, not an agreement that binds companies,” Mr Hunt said after the annual shareholder meeting in Sydney, which was dominated by questions on AGL's performance on emissions and its controversial LNG import project in Victoria. ‘

‘ “Our greenhouse gas policy, which was announced in 2015, that's still the plan ... At this point nothing is changing our view about implementing the plan as it currently is.” ’

‘Mr Hunt said AGL would carry out analysis this year to understand the impact on its operations of a 1.5 degrees scenario, but he said a "go-it-alone approach" would not be in the best interests of customers, shareholders or the community, or the country as a whole.’

‘Mr Hunt said while AGL would continue to consult with shareholders... “there's nothing that we know about now that has changed our view about that timing” for the closure of the large Bayswater coal generator in NSW in 2035 and Loy Yang A in Victoria in about 2048.’

‘ “By far the most material thing the company can do to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions is close its coal fired power stations ... but that has to be done in an orderly manner.” ’

2017: “We certainly would not be closing anything prematurely in any form unless it’s beyond its natural asset life or there’s some dramatic loss of market opportunity that doesn’t justify the economics of continuing it.”

Hunt lives in Toorak, Victoria.

NB: I have full references for all of the above, if anyone would like more details (all largely on the public record in reporting).

[ENDS]