Submission: Disinformation & Data-Washing Shaping Australian Energy Policy
Submission to: Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy
Climate Integrity welcomes the opportunity to provide insight to the Committee’s inquiry. This submission examines how disinformation and data-washing are shaping Australia’s energy policy, focusing on the role of major consultancies in selling flawed analysis as “objective” evidence to the fossil fuel industry.
Submission Summary
This submission addresses the rise of data-washing – consultancy reports commissioned by fossil fuel companies that appear independent but rely on flawed modelling and misleading assumptions. These reports provide cover for lobbying and have directly influenced national climate and energy policy.
We present three case studies – EY, KPMG, and McKinsey – to show how consultancies distort analysis to suit client interests, undermining climate science and delaying the transition. We recommend criminalising fossil fuel disinformation, prohibiting fossil fuel lobbying, and requiring disclosure of professional services’ serviced emissions.
Case Studies
EY and Australian Energy Producers
EY’s 2023 report on gas relied on non-existent scenarios and inflated demand, yet was used by AEP to claim “independent analysis” justified new gas supply.
This work influenced the Federal Government’s Future Gas Strategy, locking in gas beyond 2050 despite IEA warnings.
KPMG’s Economic Spin
KPMG’s 2024 report claimed the gas industry contributes $105bn to GDP and 215,000 jobs, based on an impossible “overnight shutdown” scenario.
It ignored transition pathways, overstated job losses, and omitted pollution and health costs, yet was widely promoted to entrench the myth that gas is “too big to lose.”
McKinsey and the BCA
McKinsey’s 2025 report for the Business Council excluded benefits of climate action, misrepresented baselines, and cherry-picked high-cost measures to inflate the expense of ambitious 2035 targets.
Its headline $530bn cost figure was repeated uncritically by media, reversing the BCA’s previous acknowledgment of net zero’s economic benefits.
Recommendations
Criminalise fossil fuel disinformation – make it unlawful to misrepresent modelling or promote false claims.
Prohibit fossil fuel lobbying – limit the industry’s influence on climate and energy policy.
Require serviced emissions disclosure – professional services should measure and disclose the downstream climate impact of their work.
