The Hon. Matt Canavan, Queensland Senator, Media Release, 5 December 2025

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan is today calling for a net zero modelling do over, following revelations the government doesn’t know the cost of reaching net zero, and is relying on out-of-date economic modelling.

In Senate Estimates this week, Senator Matt Canavan asked Treasury officials what the total cost is for Australia to reach net zero. The government officials, however, were unable to provide an answer.

Following this revelation, the Queensland Senator is calling for the Albanese Labor Government to conduct new economic modelling to investigate exactly what the cost of net zero is to Australia.

“Net zero means we have to completely change everything we do in a single generation, from how we drive, to what we eat and make,” Senator Canavan said.

“And yet, the Albanese Labor Government does not know what net zero will cost Australia? If we don’t even know what the cost is, why would we even do it. 

“There needs to be new modelling done on what the exact cost of net zero is. In Senate estimates, the government was unable to outline the cost of Australia reaching net zero. That is unacceptable.

“Australians deserve to know how much this radical proposal will cost them.”

Senator Canavan has also criticised the government’s modelling for being “out of date and out of whack”.

“For example, the government’s modelling predicts that fossil fuel demand will fall by 70 per cent. But updated figures in the IEA’s World Energy Outlook last month show oil and gas demand growing beyond 2050, and coal demand as high as 5 billion tonnes in 2050, not less than 2 billion tonnes as the government predicts.

“Just two months after its release, the government’s net zero modelling is out of date and incomplete. A tub of yoghurt would have a longer shelf life than the government’s net zero modelling.

“This government’s data is out of date and out of whack. Australians deserve a re-do.”