Scott Morrison’s announcement of $5.4 billion in Commonwealth funding for the Hell’s Gates dam is based on faulty evidence, according to a feasibility study conducted in 2018.
Morrison’s claim of a $6 billion increase in output and 7000 ongoing jobs are contrary to the feasibility study’s findings that the central case has the scheme losing $2.558 billion:
The only viable scenario would undercut the sustainability of farmers elsewhere in the domestic market:
The analysis also finds that there is no advantage for the new growing area the dam would provide compared to “established domestic producers”.
The Queensland government will only accept the money if the project passes the state’s planning assessments.
MWM thanks Rod Campbell at the Australia Institute for the above analysis. Read the full study here.
Callum Foote was a reporter for Michael West Media for four years.