The Australia Institute made a submission to the Select Committee inquiry into Certain Aspects of Queensland Government

Administration related to Commonwealth Government Affairs. Our submission focused on the use of economics in major project assessment processes.

Approval processes for major projects in Queensland have seen the misuse of various tools of economic assessment. In particular cost benefit analysis has not been used in assessments, with government agencies and proponents instead relying on ‘input-output’ multiplier models. This is contrary to the Queensland Government’s own guidelines.

In particular, our submission focuses on the Carmichael Coal Project, which used input-output modelling to gain approval from the Queensland state government.