Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she is "angry" and "disappointed" at the Queensland Resources Council over an expensive advertising campaign against coal royalty hikes, and won't attend a QRC lunch on Wednesday.
Ms Palaszczuk said the QRC's member-funded campaign against the government's June coal royalty hikes would amount to $40 million; QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane on Tuesday said the campaign did not have a set price tag.
"I am extremely disappointed in Ian Macfarlane and his attacks on the government," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"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 $40 million campaign.
"If [resources] 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."
Costly hikes
In June's state budget, Treasurer Cameron Dick announced increases to coal royalties, adding new royalty tiers after a decade-long freeze.
The increase was expected to tip an additional $1.2 billion into the state's coffers over four years, funds pledged to regional Queensland.
The move prompted fury from the resources sector and concern from global investors in Queensland's resources sector, including criticism from Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami, who will be the speaker at the QRC lunch on Wednesday.
The new rates increased from 15 per cent for prices above $300 per tonne to 40 per cent, prompting outcry from the resources sector.
Last year the resources sector paid a record $7 billion in royalty rates to the state, an amount Mr Macfarlane said would increase exponentially this year under the new regime.
"We will be undergoing a campaign to ask the government to reconsider the imposition that it made in the June budget of the highest royalty rates in the world, which are going to cost Queenslanders jobs in the long term, and remove our competitiveness with other states and other countries," Mr Macfarlane told ABC Radio Brisbane.
The campaign will run across print, digital, radio and television under the slogan 'Keep Queensland competitive'.
Mr Macfarlane said the state government was "gouging" the sector and meant Queensland's resources sector was now paying royalty rates up to five times higher than NSW.
Anger from Premier
Ms Palaszczuk on Wednesday said she was "angry" about the campaign.
"The Queensland Resources Council wants to mount a $40 million campaign against the Queensland government," she said.
"If they have $40 million — just think about that for a moment — $40 million for an advertising campaign, I can build a special school for $40 million.
"I can put money into housing for $40 million. I can put $40 million to very, very good use, towards another satellite hospital."
Last year the sector reported record exports and record prices to match, after a heavy slump two years earlier during COVID.
Mr Macfarlane said the sector would have paid record royalties this year under the old regime alone.
"Last year was a record already, so that was over $7 billion," he said.
"We would have expected to exceed that, and now of course we're going to exceed that extraordinarily with this unfair tax the state government has imposed."
