Tim Flannery says Australia is 'backing the wrong horse' in Galilee basin

Climate Council report says financial risk aversion and the prospect of blowing the world's 'carbon budget' mean Queensland's Galilee coal may never be dug up

Former climate commissioner Tim Flannery says governments are "backing the wrong horse" in Queensland's Galilee basin, as new reports cast doubt on the viability of Australia's largest proposed coal fields.

A report by Flannery's Climate Council argues that a fast-changing world energy market, increasing risk aversion in financiers and the prospect of blowing the global "carbon budget" are increasing the chances that Galilee coal will never be dug up.