Last week’s excellent guest post from Jim Binney of Mainstream Economics on the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade attracted a lot of attention, and now it has featured in the council debate on the merits of the upgrade. A Brisbane Times article (KSD contract is signed, despite opposition) reports Opposition Leader Councillor Milton Dick as saying:

“If this has been approved and the Lord Mayor has signed off a $650 million contract – and we know that last week independent economic analysis has found, quote, this looks like a ‘dud’ … this is the time for the Lord Mayor to put up or shut up.”

The independent economic analysis referred to is clearly Jim’s guest post from last week. The mayoral candidate Rod Harding has also referred to Jim’s analysis, noting an independent economist (i.e. Jim) found the project does not stack up.

Well done to Jim for injecting himself into an important policy debate. It is a pity the Council did not engage Jim to review the dubious business case for the $650 million project before it signed the contract.