It matters because, in the words of Professor Sir Charles Bean, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, it's vital for policymakers to have access to statistics that are "accurate, reliable, relevant and timely".
Being able to scan a vast range of material, determine what's reliable, relevant and sufficiently objective, decide what will actually interest your particular readers and arrange it in a way that they can use are not trivial skills.
I'm guessing that this brand of coded chalk talk will appeal to Clare-the-savvy-businessman, and make him think that I'm not really trying to sell him the Doolittles' house but am just here to supply reliable, relevant, factual info and to make the world seem less a sinking miasma.
Conversely, with highly positive correlation in accounting signals, the reliable (relevant) system is more (less) preferable if reduction in noise is low and no high-quality non-accounting measure is available for contracting in period two.
Under limited commitment and negative correlation, the reliable (relevant) system turns out to be more (less) beneficial the stronger the reduction in noise over time and the more precise an available non-accounting performance measure and v.v.
The report claims that it was impossible to obtain "reliable, relevant Melbourne statistics," which seems unlikely given the city's abject enthusiasm to promote itself in the media as a kind of anti-Sydney.
