Heard of the NCCC? Well, it's Scott Morrison's secretive Covid economic recovery body, very weighted to climate-wrecking gas and following months of backlash, has just attempted a re-brand. Here's what you need to know:

Economic heavyweights around the world have said that with the right planning, we could create future-proof jobs in a renewed economy focused on the industries of the future, rather than industries on their way out: looking at you wind and solar, also zero-emissions manufacturing

But instead, we've had this ridiculous Covid Commission stacked with everyone from a director of Saudi Aramco and petrochemical companies to the mysterious ex-Fortescue boss Nev Power. Catherine Tanna, whose company has a 20% stake in the contentious Narrabri gas project also

But the NCCC overegged it, and even plugged a project that would prop up Narrabri gas, which clearly created conflicts around Tanna's role, and she's now gone. They also told people they would "work their contact lists" to figure out which companies to throw public money at

All of this is happening IN THE DARK, with a Senate committee not even able to see a conflicts of interest register. As for the rest of us? No chance, we just have to trust what's happening behind closed doors

While Tanna's gone, other gas-linked execs remain, and FOI now becomes even harder if the NCCC becomes a cabinet process. Oh by the way, there's no transparency or accountability around this thing, and the Commissioners are external consultants not bound by public governance law

Let's remember: gas is capital-intensive, meaning investment is biased towards machines and equipment instead of JOBS, which is what we need. It's also damaging to land and water, and pumps out greenhouse gases - and it's on the way out

The industry's also dealing with an oversupply, and is running out of refrigerated ocean tankers to store unwanted gas. Anyway, back to the NCC, as it's now called (not a creative rebrand): former WMC executive Samantha Hogg is now on the body

WMC, you might remember, dedicated years to trying to destroy momentum for climate progress in Australia, by sowing doubt around the science, and creating murky thinktanks. That agenda's pretty much done now, but there's still a lot of rubbish that flies around

We could have a participatory and democratic body, we could double down on industries that have been rapidly growing like wind and solar, we could have an open body that includes worker reps, enviro groups, and industries across the board, with experts and transparency

It's time for the NCCC's report to be released and the body to be properly replaced with something that can lift us into the future, beyond the present crisis