Coal miners said the Palaszczuk government’s coal royalty hike had put jobs at risk in Queensland as analysts slashed earnings forecasts for miners by up to 7 per cent.
has put jobs at risk in Queensland as analysts slashed earnings forecasts for miners by up to 7 per cent.
But analysts expect it will raise much more. Peter O’Connor from Shaw and Partners said it would raise an extra $18 billion over the next year if current coal prices persist until June 2023.The change in Queensland comes as the NSW government, which also handed down its budget on Tuesday, made no change to coal royalty rates, meaning the highest a miner would pay in the state remains at 8.2 per cent.
“An increase of this severity means everything is on the table. This is an extreme increase and may call for extreme measures to save the future of met coal in Queensland,” Mr Latimore said.“This scale of royalty changes is unprecedented and completely undermines the confidence of investors in Queensland’s coal sector. Local retail investors will also suffer.
The company has also this month restarted mining at the Bluff operation as part of its strategy to revive mines that had been marginal in the past, while it builds a new mine at Broadmeadow East. “This is a cyclical industry and with the government now proposing to take most of the upside between royalties and other taxes it really calls into question future investment decisions in the state.”Mr Jorss said Bowen was not a large multinational company but a Queensland business that now felt “betrayed”.