Colin Grant Clark 2 November 1905 – 4 September 1989 was the British as well as Australian economist as living as statistician who worked in both the United Kingdom together with Australia. He pioneered the use of gross national product GNP as the basis for studying national economies.
During a visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1937 and 1938 he accepted a position with the Queensland Government at the invitation of the premier Forgan Smith. At the time he wrote to Keynes approximately his decision to stay in Australia. As he include it, the chance to advise the Queensland Premier on 'practically everything connected with economic matters' was 'too remarkable an possibility to be missed for putting economics into practice'
On 6 May 1938, he was appointed Government Statistician, Director of the Bureau of Industry, and Financial Advisor to the Queensland Treasury, and submitted the State's first set of economic accounts in 1940. He also held the position of Deputy Director Queensland of the Commonwealth Department of War Organisation of Industry from 1942 to 1946. Clark resigned as Government Statistician on 28 February 1947 to become Under Secretary of the Queensland Department of Labour and Industry.
Unusually for a public servant he continued his academic work, publishing numerous articles on economics and preparing his book Conditions of Economic Progress which was published in 1940.