Queensland Labor questions BHP on coal call
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has questioned the reasoning behind BHP’s decision to shelve plans for a $1bn coalmine after the company blamed Labor’s new royalty regime.
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has questioned the reasoning behind BHP’s decision to shelve plans for a $1bn coalmine after the company blamed Labor’s new royalty regime.
BHP chief executive Mike Henry told the ASX the company would pause plans on the Blackwater South metallurgical coalmine in central Queensland in part because of changes to the state’s royalty scheme, which “were quite sudden”.
Mr Dick increased coalmining royalties in his June budget following a decade-long freeze and after repeatedly promising no new or increased taxes during the 2020 state election campaign.
He has come under fire from industry, as well as the Japanese ambassador to Australia, for failing to consult on changes to the royalty scheme before they were announced.
Mr Henry said the decision triggered a “significant increase in the sovereign risk associated with Queensland”.
This “has caused us to say we really can’t deploy further capital into that business for the time being and we’ll go back and reassess what the plans for the business are going forward”.
The company also noted in its financial results that the long-term outlook for metallurgical coal could lead to other mine sites closing earlier than “previously anticipated”.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Mr Dick said BHP was in a “20-year process of withdrawing from coal”.
“It is important to note that BHP’s own documentation demonstrates the Blackwater South mine would not commence until 2029 at the earliest so a financial investment decision is many years away,” he said. “The office of Queensland’s Co-ordinator-General has confirmed with BHP that they are proceeding with regulatory approvals at pace.”
Mr Dick said BHP had put two other new mines on hold before the new royalty regime was announced.
The Blackwater South project was expected to create 750 construction jobs, 1200 operation jobs, and produce 10 million tonnes of metallurgical coal for steelmaking each year.
Mr Dick said other companies confirmed the new royalty scheme “will not have an adverse impact on mining investment decisions”.
He also congratulated BHP for its year of soaring profits “thanks to Queensland coal assets”.
Moral clarity: Minister drops ALP’s restraint on Israel
One of Anthony Albanese’s key factional backers, Mark Butler, has delivered Labor’s strongest defence of Israel, endorsing its right to strike back and warning that Australian Jews are facing anti-Semitism on a scale never seen before.
Jewish mourners pray for peace and acceptance
Thousands from the Jewish community have gathered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for a solemn vigil to mark a year since the brutal October 7 terrorist attacks and to grieve the more than 1200 Israelis killed.