Coal barons must pay for flood damage, says Bob Brown

GREENS leader Bob Brown has pinned the blame for the Queensland floods on the coal industry.

GREENS leader Bob Brown has pinned the blame for the Queensland floods on the coal industry.

He says the sector's contribution to global warming is responsible for the extreme weather conditions causing the floods.

Senator Brown said yesterday the "coal barons" should be made to pay for the damage caused by natural disasters, with half of Canberra's planned mineral resources rent tax set aside for a repairs fund.

"Burning coal is a major cause of global warming," he said. "This industry, which is 75 per cent owned outside Australia, should help pay the cost of the predicted more severe and more frequent floods, droughts and bushfires in coming decades."

Scientists had concluded that the floods were caused by record high temperatures in the oceans around Australia.

"It is unfair that the cost is put on all taxpayers, not the culprits," said Senator Brown, who was stranded by the floods in Tasmania for two days.

Resource Minister Martin Ferguson criticised Senator Brown for making political capital out of a national tragedy. "It's a time for pulling together, not pointing the finger," he said.

Mr Ferguson ruled out allocating a portion of the mining tax for a fund to cover the cost of natural disasters. "The government has put forward a clear proposal in terms of how we intend to allocate revenue from the one-off development of our non-renewable natural resources, and we are not planning to change it."

Senator Brown has been pressing for the proceeds from the mining tax to be put into a sovereign fund, rather than going to tax cuts and other spending. But Mr Ferguson said the planned use of the funds for company tax cuts, infrastructure and superannuation would benefit Queensland.

Coalition regional development spokesman Barnaby Joyce said it was absurd for Senator Brown to blame the coal industry for floods, which had been a reality in Queensland throughout its history. "In 1893, the flood gauge on the Brisbane River reached 8.35m, so was the coal industry responsible for that as well?" he asked.