The announcement of 750 job losses at BHP is nothing short of a tragedy for Dysart and the wider Bowen Basin. Behind every job lost is a family struggling with a mortgage, children missing out on after-school sport and a local economy that will be gutted.
This is not bad luck, it is the direct result of the former Labor government’s job-destroying royalty regime. Introduced by the former Labor Government, these royalties are now the highest in the world. They are driving up costs, shutting down investment and killing jobs across Central Queensland.
Metallurgical coal cost of production has skyrocketed 47 per cent in three years, while thermal coal costs have exploded by 50 per cent. Mines are being pushed to the brink and workers are paying the price.
That is why I will be lobbying my LNP colleagues relentlessly to bring forward an urgent review of the royalty regime. We simply cannot afford to sit on our hands while mines close and livelihoods are destroyed.
Even the royalties Labor bragged about are collapsing, plunging from $12.8 billion to $7.9 billion in one year. Fewer projects, fewer jobs and less revenue for the very hospitals, schools, and services Queenslanders rely on.
Federal Labor Government has piled on more costs with its job-destroying Safeguard Mechanism, a carbon tax by stealth.
This tax is hitting 215 heavy industries, 28 of which are right here in Capricornia. Central Queensland has become ground zero for Labor’s reckless carbon tax.
Coal remains the backbone of our economy. It employs tens of thousands of Queenslanders, generated $99.3 billion for the national economy in 2022–23 and still provides almost half of Australia’s electricity. Globally, demand continues to rise. Far from being a sunset industry, coal remains our nation’s second largest export and a critical part of powering the world.
Labor’s war on mining is economic vandalism. By appeasing inner-city activists and the Greens, they are sacrificing regional Queensland jobs, gutting local businesses and betraying the very communities that keep this state afloat.
Labor is waging war on mining and workers are the collateral damage. The former state Labor Government’s destructive royalties, combined with Federal Labor’s carbon tax by stealth, have created the perfect storm for job losses across the Bowen Basin. Queensland deserves better. We need an urgent review of Labor’s destructive royalty regime to protect jobs, attract investment, and keep regional communities alive.
