Opinion: The inconvenient truth about coal

No amount of spin and scapegoating from CEOs or premiers will change the true cost of our coal addiction, writes Charlie Cox.

A Google Maps view of the Burton coalmine

Last week, a familiar scare campaign was reignited. Coal barons are once again blaming Queensland’s royalty system for the industry’s problems. In truth, the coal industry is being undone by its own product.

A prime example of this is the Burton coalmine complex. Mothballed in 2017 by Peabody due to high costs, it was opportunistically reopened by Bowen Coking Coal in 2023 when global coal prices surged.

Now, as countries shift to clean energy and markets respond to the climate reality, prices have fallen again and the Burton project is faltering. Ironically, costs at Burton were exacerbated by climate-fuelled flooding halting production and damaging the site.

The coal company’s solution? Blame royalties and avoid accountability.

Here’s the thing, this isn’t about royalties. It’s about trying to squeeze every last drop of short-term profits from an unstable, declining industry.

Still, the Queensland Premier David Crisafulli is reinforcing this shaky narrative, calling Queensland coal “environmentally sustainable” and pledging to extract “every last gram.”

It’s language so out of step with economic and environmental reality, it could have been scripted by the coal lobby itself.

The idea that coal is clean, green or sustainable has long been debunked. Coal fuels the climate crisis and the heatwaves, floods, and fires that are already hurting Queenslanders.
This costs our hip pockets in many ways, from higher insurance premiums to lost crops, and utterly destroys communities.

No amount of spin and scapegoating from CEOs or premiers will change that.

Coal royalties are not the problem. It’s actually one of the only coal policies still fit for purpose in today’s context, ensuring Queenslanders get a fair share of super-profits from our own resources. Most Queenslanders pay more tax on their wages or a pint of beer than multinational coal companies pay to dig up and export our land.

Coal royalties are a fair, bare minimum, and they’re here to stay. The real threat to Queensland’s economy and regional jobs isn’t royalties or climate action. It’s governments that refuse to face reality.

Imagine if we used the money from royalties to build renewable energy, regional infrastructure, skills, and innovation? We could lead the global clean energy race, not be left in its dust.

Charlie Cox is Queensland Conservation Council coal and gas campaigner

Originally published as Opinion: The inconvenient truth about coal