Are past trends suitable future predictors?
The proposal is predicated on trends which cannot be sustained if we are serious about our commitments to future generations of Australians. It is underpinned by promised economic and social benefits that are relative, unequal, and likely to prove illusory and unsatisfying – unlike the perpetual benefits we get from a publicly-enjoyed coastal and marine environment kept at its best. The PoMC stresses the view of a pressing need for economic expansion, but understandably, as the proponent has no interest in presenting a view on the value of preserving the Bay in its current condition without further disturbance. It should be the duty of government to fulfil that role, but it has not risen to that challenge, instead being the major champion of the project. Instead it falls to the Inquiry and the wider community to adopt the responsibility of putting a value on the Bay. Government did commission an ‘independent’ economic analysis of the ‘project’ – undertaken by PriceWaterhouse Coopers (P
