News Corp claims coal and gas moratorium would be a revenue ‘black hole’. How much would it really cost?

‘It doesn’t help them by telling them this is really scary’: falling coal demand will be a greater problem than stopping future projects, says Alison Reeve. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Would a moratorium on new coal and gas projects – even one with almost no chance of actually happening – really cost Queensland $85bn and “shaft” New South Wales to the tune of $19bn?

These were the eye-watering claims made in two stories in News Corp Australia mastheads in Brisbane and Sydney on the same day last week.