Queensland's premier has snubbed the coal mining lobby's annual lunch after it launched an advertising campaign against recent royalty hikes.
Miners have been protesting against the government making it pay more royalties on each tonne of coal sold for more than $175 since the start of July.
The Queensland Resource Council launched a series of print, radio, television and online ads targetting the tax change on Wednesday ahead of its annual lunch in Brisbane.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says neither she nor her ministers will attend this year's event because she's "extremely disappointed" and "angry" at QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane's ongoing "attacks on the government".
"Yes, I was invited to today's lunch, I have made it very clear that my ministers will not be attending this lunch because of the campaign, the $40 million campaign," she told reporters on Friday.
"That $40 million, if companies are making $40 million to go into a campaign, that money can be very well spent in the lead-up to Christmas helping Queenslanders."
The coal mining lobby's ads say that Queensland's coal royalty rate is five times the rate in NSW and "by far the world's highest", and put future investment and jobs at risk.
Mr Macfarlane said the change is short-sighted and is already having an impact on the sector after fourth months.
"The global resources market is extremely competitive, and companies have plenty of other regions and countries in which to invest their capital if a particular government decides to start imposing exorbitant royalty tax rates," he said in a statement.
"The Queensland government's short-sighted decision to use the resources sector as a cash cow to plug up budget holes is already having an impact.
"Our major trading partner, Japan, and companies as big as BHP and Peabody Energy, have already publicly questioned their future investment in new projects in Queensland, putting tens of thousands of jobs across our industry's supply chain at risk."
The premier said she supported the mining sector, and had always given the Japanese government security of coal supplies.
Mr Macfarlane, a former federal coalition Industry minister, called for the government to speak with mining companies and reconsider the royalty hike.
