Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry, Federal Member for Flynn Colin Boyce, Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox and Senator for Queensland Matthew Canavan have called out Labor’s stance on the mining industry for pushing two Central Queensland mines to the brink.
Yesterday, BHP announced their plans to place two of their coal mines, Daunia and Blackwater, for sale. This follows increased pressure the Labor State and Federal Government’s taxes have put on the resource and manufacturing industries, particularly the Queensland Labor Government’s shock increase to mining royalties last year.
Federal Member for Capricornia, Michelle Landry, stated this announcement from BHP is another indicator of how out of touch the Labor party are with what drives Australia’s economy.
“Labor’s determination for taxing our resource sector is another attack on the high-vis workers of Australia and the heavy industries that keep the lights on in our country.
“With cost-of-living already bringing people to their knees, now is not the time to impose legislation to make it harder for families or risk heavy job losses across an industry that has supported Australia to become what it is today,” Ms Landry said.
Federal Member for Flynn said the royalty tax hike has been nothing more than an attack on investment for the resources industry.
“Nearly 92 per cent of metallurgical coal exports came from Queensland in 2021, which means billions of dollars in royalties and taxes to pay for the services we all rely on,” Mr Boyce said.
“We should be thanking our coal miners for the work they do, not threatening to take away their jobs which is now happening under Labor’s introduction of higher taxes on the resources industry.
“In the 2021-22 financial year, the resources industry in Flynn provided a total economic contribution of $17.7 billion of gross regional product and supported over 50,000 local jobs.
“Rather than targeting the resources industry with more taxes, the Labor State Government should be encouraging further investment,” Mr Boyce said.
Comments from the Japanese Ambassador in November last year raised concerns that Japanese investors could reconsider investments in hydrogen and other commodities if they lost confidence in Australia’s coal industry.
Andrew Willcox, Federal Member for Dawson, has said these Labor policies will leave thousands of Queenslanders with job insecurity.
“It is very disappointing that both the Labor State and Federal Governments cannot give our Mining and Resources industry competitive and predictable policy to encourage QLD investment. The Coal royalties and the Carbon Tax 2.0 policy changes will leave thousands of Central and Northern Queenslanders in job security limbo,” Mr Willcox said.
Senator for Queensland, Matthew Canavan, has joined his Central Queensland LNP colleagues with voicing his concern for the affect Labor’s policies will have on the resource industry.
“This just shows the uncertainty that Labor has created for our resources industry, with the changes in the royalties and with federal price caps.
“The mining industry is currently paying for all of Labor’s big spending policies and Labor are more focused on pilfering all they can from them rather than ensuring long term investment and jobs for Queenslanders,” Mr Canavan said.
