Google has effectively declared war on the Australian Government for introducing legislation that, if passed, would force Google and Facebook to pay for news content they currently use without payment.

In response to the proposed code Google has threatened to go on strike and withdraw certain services from Australian users. To reinforce the impact of a strike in Australia, Google has naturally drawn attention to its own importance in the Australian economy and society. Google presented a submission to the Senate Committee examining the legislation in which it outlined how it saw its own benefits to Australia. The Google submission drew on a consultancy report - 'Google’s economic impact in Australia', which was commissioned by Google, and prepared by AlphaBeta.

This paper questions whether Google’s assessment of itself, and the assessment of it by its commissioned consultants, is reasonable.