The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) warned on Friday that coal royalties legislation which passed through state Parliament this week had further damaged Queensland’s competitiveness and would risk the state’s economic security.

The Bill, introduced by the state government in May last year, would force any future decrease in coal royalty taxes to be legislated, making it harder for future governments to make changes. 

QRC CEO Janette Hewson said the state government should instead be focused on getting the right policy settings to secure a pipeline of investment in Queensland and re-establish the state’s competitiveness.

“The state government’s decision to impose the world’s highest coal royalty tax rates was made without proper industry consultation and they failed to consider the impacts for everyday Queenslanders when introducing this Bill,” Hewson said. 

“Forcing a future government to reduce the coal royalty tax rate through legislation is unnecessary and sends a clear message to the international market that Queensland is not open for business.  

“It threatens investment and jobs in our state’s most important export industry and will affect all Queensland commodities, including critical minerals,” she said.

Hewson stressed that the future strength of the state’s resources sector should be judged by the level of investment in new greenfield projects, not the transfer of ownership of existing mines which were developed years or decades ago.

“All mines come to an end and it’s critical we have investment to get new projects coming online to replace them to ensure the resources sector continues to deliver benefits for all Queenslanders through royalties and jobs.”

Citing a 2013 report by the Office of Chief Economist, Hewson indicated that there were more than 440-million tonnes of coal capacity in the pipeline for Queensland. Ten years later, the pipeline had more than halved to 172-million tonnes.

The QRC said while the government claimed an increase in resources exploration expenditure in Queensland indicated confidence in the sector, it had been driven by a significant rise in costs.

“The cost for explorers to drill each metre has risen by 59% over the past five years which means that while expenditure is up, exploration activity is not.”

Queensland’s resources sector was worth nearly A$117-billion and supported more than 530 000 jobs in the 202/23 financial year.