The Morrison Government has reappointed Mr Justin Punch as Chair of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) board and reappointed Ms Anna Matysek and Mr John Hirjee as members of the board for a further two-year term concluding in July 2024.
The Government has also appointed Ms Elizabeth O'Leary to the ARENA board. Ms O'Leary is a Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Asset Management and head of MAM Agriculture & Natural Assets, one of the world's largest private land managers. She is an experienced board and investment committee member, including on Macquarie's Energy, Emissions and Efficiency Advisory Committee, the CSIRO Agriculture and Food Advisory Group, agricultural companies and not-for-profits. Ms O'Leary will replace Mr Justin Butcher, whose term on the Board will conclude on 22 July.
Minister Taylor congratulated Ms O'Leary on her appointment to the Board, and thanked Mr Butcher for his contribution over the past two years.
Since the 2020-21 Budget, the Government has provided ARENA with $1.96 billion in new funding, recognising the important role the agency plays in driving down the cost of deploying low emissions technologies.
ARENA has supported $7.9 billion worth of total public and private investment across 618 projects, as at 31 December 2021.
