Dick unveils the bumper Budget that coal built

Queensland has posted the largest Budget surplus recorded by an Australian state or territory government and Treasurer Cameron Dick does not shy away from the fact it was delivered by coal. The $12.3 billion double-digit surplus allows the government to pay down debt while still funding measures including its 'Big Build' infrastructure program and $8.2 billion in concessions to ease cost-of-living pressures. "We can deliver our state’s biggest cost of living program, our state’s biggest building program, and deliver lower debt, because of one simple reason. Progressive coal royalties," Mr Dick said. "Our decision, to take on the mining lobby, to stand our ground, and to fight for the people of our state, has delivered a rich reward for Queenslanders. As rich as that reward is for the people of Queensland, it is a mere fraction of the rewards being earned by big coal companies." There was a $13.7 billion lift in general government sector revenue for 2022-23 compared to the forecast and this was chiefly down to a $10.46 billion increase in resource royalties to more than $18 billion. This reflected the new progressive coal royalty rates and higher-than-expected global coal and oil prices being received by Queensland’s key commodity producers. Treasurer Cameron Dick with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. However, Budget papers show this level of windfall is expected to be short-lived. Royalties are predicted to fall by almost $11 billion in 2023-24, reflecting the expectation that prices for coal and oil return to levels more consistent with medium term expectations. The Queensland Resources Council said the Budget exposed the State Government’s serious miscalculation in its snap decision to impose the world’s highest coal royalty tax. Last year, the Queensland Government said the new tiers would cost coal producers an extra $800 million this financial year. Today’s Budget revealed the Government would collect a record $15.3 billion from coal royalties - including $5.7 billion from the new royalty taxes, the QRC said. "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 benefiting 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. “That long-held perception of Queensland has now changed, for the worse." Related: ‘Big Build’ capital spend promises $13b for regions While the QRC repeated calls for the Queensland Government to reconsider its decision on the new royalty rates, Mr Dick said the position of the Palaszczuk Labor Government could not be clearer. "For so long as there is a Labor Government in this state, we will keep progressive coal royalties," he said. The QRC is also calling on the State Government to provide full details on its funding commitments to regional Queensland communities that are the backbone of the resources sector. “Many regional resources towns that help generate the billions of dollars of extra revenue now pouring into Government coffers are still waiting to see exactly how that money will benefit their regions,” Mr Macfarlane said. Related: Isaac bid for value from coal royalties pie Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter is calling for 25 per cent of royalty income to be spent in regional Queensland moving forward. Had this occurred in 2023-24, at least $5.4 billion would have been delivered to the regions through royalty revenue alone, given that in the past financial year royalties delivered $18 billion, he said. “If you spent this money back in the regions, you could create greater wealth-creating opportunities that set our state up for a richer and more sustainable future,” Mr Katter said. “We’re not saying we need all the perks of the city, but if the state wants to survive it needs to invest in the places that do the heavy lifting – don’t bite the hand that feeds you. “With the exception of CopperString, this Budget does basically the opposite.” In his Budget speech, Mr Dick acknowledged that coal revenue generated in regional Queensland was a cornerstone of the Budget, and said it was only right that regional Queensland stood to benefit. "In each of the four budgets I have delivered, more than half of the total infrastructure investment has been outside greater Brisbane," he said. "In this Budget, that proportion rises to a record 65 and a half per cent of capital investment outside Brisbane, or $13.3 billion next financial year."

Dick unveils the bumper Budget that coal built

Industry Queensland

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