Crisafulli resists pressure to change Queensland’s coal royalties regime

2 hours ago 2

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has resisted calls from his own side of politics to revisit his state’s coal royalties regime, insisting he will keep a pre-election commitment to maintain the status quo.

The premier came under pressure to “sort out” the coal royalties at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane on Saturday, days after federal Nationals leader David Littleproud called for a review.

It came after BHP slashed 750 jobs from Queensland operations last week, blaming the end of a decade-long freeze on coal royalties in 2022 under the previous Labor government for edging the market towards “crisis point”.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has vowed to stick to his guns on coal royalties.

On Sunday, Crisafulli rejected that pressure, insisting there would be no change to the state’s royalties regime – a position he took to last year’s state election.

“I respect people’s opinion – of course I do,” he said.

“I’ve charted a course, and I’m very confident in the one that we’re doing, and I’m confident we’ll have some announcements that show that.

“Likewise, I’m pretty bullish about the future of Queensland, I really am, and I’m pretty bullish about the future Queensland mining industry as well, including coal, there’s a future here.

“At a time when the coal industry probably doesn’t feel a lot of love across the country, I want them to know that they are an important part of our exports, and they’re also an important part of our energy mix.”

Crisafulli said it was important that his government demonstrates to the industry, its workers, and “the people who rely on the taxes across the board” that Queensland was a stable and calm place to do business.

“If I’m chopping and changing, I’m no better than the government that we replaced – I’m not going to do that,” he said.

“You know our position, and people can invest knowing that.”

Still, Crisafulli said he was mindful of the mixed messages coming out of the state.

“That’s why I went to Japan and India particularly – the opportunity for steel is just amazing, as it is for thermal coal,” he said.

“My view is, wherever there’s a market for thermal coal across the globe, we have a responsibility to meet that market – not just a responsibility to keep people in a job, but we have a responsibility because our coal is the cleanest and it’s mined to the highest environmental standards with the best workers’ rights, and we should be benefiting from that as a state and a nation.

“I know I can’t change what’s happened in the last three or four years, but I can change the future, and the future is that stability around approvals, the certainty around taxation, certainty around regulation.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Janette Hewson said they had voiced concerns about the increase in royalties to the previous Labor government, and were disappointed the LNP had followed suit.

“By accepting bad policy, they have cost jobs for Queenslanders,” she said.

“The impact of the royalty tax increase, coupled with a drop in coal prices and soaring production costs, is simply making it unviable for many coal producers in Queensland to continue operating.”

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