Dr Fisher’s findings were vigorously denied by Labor and disputed by a range of economic and energy experts.
ANU professor Frank Jotzosaid in 2019 that Dr Fisher’s work had used “absurd cost assumptions” about the costs of emissions reduction and Professor Warwick McKibbin said the carbon price forecast he used was “way too high” and a “factor of ten” more than his own work.
Liberal think tank theMenzies Research Centre said last year Dr Fisher’s modelling should be “compulsory reading” and said it had a hand in promoting his report during the election campaign.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison used the figures in a political attack against Labor and its then-leader Bill Shorten,who took a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
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Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor saidahead of the federal poll Labor’s policy would put a “wrecking ball” through the economy and cut the average wage by over $9,000,and increase wholesale electricity prices by more than 58 per cent.
Under questioning from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young Senate at a Senate Estimates hearing on Monday night,Energy Department deputy secretary Jo Evans said the government had contracted Dr Fisher to validate its modelling of the economic impacts of reaching net zero emissions.