There was this morning’s edition of The Australian Financial Review, cheering infrastructure spending, especially roads, with a four-page wraparound promoting yesterday’s National Infrastructure Summit (which was a stunt, sorry, profit-making event, promoted by the AFR). And there, front and centre was NSW Premier, Mike Baird talking about his Coalition government showing “a steely determination” in ripping up great parts of Sydney’s inner west for cars and the $17 billion West Connex project. And he was supported by that well known Sydney identity Lucy Turnbull (aka Mrs Prime Minister). And on page four of the AFR proper there was columnist Jennifer Hewitt extolling the virtues of Baird, who, she said, “puts infrastructure to work”.

But what’s this? On the back page of the paper proper, in the daily Rear View column, columnists Joe Aston and Bryce Corbett had a very different take on Road Builder Mike. Under the headline “Baird’s ethanol crusade defies all logic” the Dynamic Duo detailed the decision of the NSW government under Baird in extending what they called the “epic rort that is the NSW Government’s biofuels mandate”. The column detailed the less-than-edifying growth of the ethanol policy of the government, which has mandated that 6% of all fuel (petrol) volume sold in NSW be ethanol.

They pointed out that the NSW Treasury had criticised this policy in 2012, the competition watchdog, the ACCC in 2013 and the late NSW Greens MP John Kaye. More specifically, NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal conducted a review of the ethanol mandate and reported in May 2015 that “no option would achieve the 6 per cent mandate and result in a positive net benefit to the NSW community”. But Rear Window points out that instead of accepting the tribunal’s finding, Baird announced last March that he was extending the ethanol mandate, loading tens of millions of dollars of extra costs on the industry and on drivers.

And no recognition of this in the rest of the AFR.