A day after the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) released a new campaign in opposition to the State’s controversial coal royalty system, it has now reiterated concern over the State Government’s decision to impose the world’s highest coal royalty taxes.
The independent body said the coal royalty tax could have long-term consequences such as lost jobs and investments, particularly in regional communities.
It also said that the resources sector contributes significantly to the Queensland economy through royalties and taxes, as well as employment and business opportunities.
“There has to be a balance between what the Queensland Government takes from the resources sector and what it leaves to encourage companies to continue to invest the capital required to get large-scale, multi-decade projects off the ground,” QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.
“The reason Queenslanders are benefitting today from the resources sector is because of investment decisions made years, if not decades, ago by resources companies which saw Queensland as a safe and secure place in which to invest.”
Macfarlane said this long-held perception of Queensland has now changed due to the coal royalty taxes, and billion-dollar investments have now been cancelled.
“A pipeline of more than $100 billion in a range of projects, including the minerals needed for lower emissions energy and technologies, could also be at risk because of the uncertainty that now exists for companies weighing up whether to invest in Queensland,” Macfarlane said.
Macfarlane said that over $18 billion in royalty taxes paid by Queensland’s resources sector has enabled the State Government to deliver a budget that provides cost-of-living relief to Queenslanders.
“If the Government wants the resources sector to be able continue to provide that support into the future, it needs policies that encourage investment to maintain a stable pipeline of projects in the years and decades to come,” Macfarlane said.
Additionally, the QRC is calling on the Queensland Government to provide full details on its funding commitments to regional Queensland communities.
“Such a big economic impost on resources companies will have consequences and they’ll be hardest felt in regional communities that rely on the jobs and local spending that the sector provides,” Macfarlane said.
The QRC has again called for the Queensland Government to reconsider its decision and to work with the industry to ensure the resources sector can continue to support the Queensland economy.