Mining heavyweights line up behind BHP for joint attack on govt
Queensland’s coal sector has rallied around BHP with a host of companies attacking the Palaszczuk Government over its dramatic increase in royalties and calling for talks to resolve the issue.
The coal industry has found a cause to rally around
Mining companies have found the hike in royalties was a cause to rally around and made a concerted attack on the Government, claiming “Queenslanders were being fleeced to plug Labor’s budget black hole”.
The new royalty regime was introduced to capture for the Government some of the benefit of rocketing prices for coal, which reached record levels earlier this year but have since abated.
BHP has frozen capital spending in Queensland because of the royalty issue and Anglo American acting chief executive Nick Barlow said his company estimated that it would now “contribute around 60 per cent of our profits to governments” and the royalty hike would hurt future investment plans.
Bravus, formerly known as Adani, said new investment would go to places other than Queensland and Bowen Coking Coal’s Nick Jorss said it was a tax grab that would “permanently bake in Queensland as the regime with the highest royalties in the world” to solve a short-term budgetary problem.
“I believe it is important that the Government now sits down the industry to try and find a workable and equitable solution,” Jorss said.
In a ministerial statement to Parliament yesterday, Treasurer Cameron Dick said other companies were less concerned and that BHP’s reaction had to be seen in the context of its “20-year process of withdrawing from coal”.
“Independent analysis released by Bank of America prior to the introduction of new bipartisan progressive coal royalties confirms that ‘BHP has no plans to invest in new met coalmines or growth projects to increase production’,” the Treasurer said.
“Whitehaven Coal has confirmed that their new mine at Winchester South is unaffected. Peabody Energy has confirmed that their proposed North Goonyella mine is very financially attractive. Stanmore Coal has just stumped up over $400 million in cash to acquire the last 20 per cent of BHP’s former joint venture with BHP Mitsui Coal.
“Queensland’s coal industry is in good health with strong profits being made and I do not begrudge these companies their windfall profits. They are entitled to reap their fair share just as the people of Queensland are entitled to reap their fair share as well.”