https://reneweconomy.com.au/modeller-used-to-attack-labor-policies-hired-to-verify-taylors-net-zero-modelling/"
The Morrison government’s modelling of a net zero emissions target is being “verified” by Brian Fisher, a consultant who authored modelling used by the Coalition to attack the climate policies put forward by Labor in the 2019 federal election campaign.
Officials from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources confirmed that consultancy BAEconomics, headed by Fisher, was paid more than $100,000 at various points this year to “validate” modelling prepared for a zero net emissions target.
Deputy secretary Jo Evans was asked in a Senate estimates hearing by Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young to provide details of two contracts awarded to BAEconomics during 2021 for modelling and “analytical benchmarking and verification”.
“Fisher has one of the few comparable versions of the general equilibrium model that we are using in the department. And we used him to validate some of the results that we were using, and that we were coming up with,” Evans told Senate Estimates.
“We had two separate contracts with him; one for $72,600, which was early on to give us confidence in what we were setting out to do with our own version of [Computable general equilibrium models].
“And the second [worth $33,000] to do some additional modelling on a particular aspect of what we were trying to do. We just needed to test whether what we had proposed would work,” Evans added.
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