Qld coal royalties hike: Japanese ambassador’s disappointment

Treasurer Cameron Dick insists Queensland’s relationship with Japan remains strong after comments on the state royalties hike by the nation’s ambassador.

Treasurer Cameron Dick has insisted Queensland has a strong relationship with Japan following the Japanese ambassador to Australia’s warning that the state’s recent coal royalties hike put the business relationship at risk.

Mr Dick said the state’s resources belonged to Queenslanders.

“Our relationship with Japan is one that’s strong, it’s valuable and it’s important and that’s been the nature of our relationship with Japan for many decades and it will continue to be a strong, valuable and important relationship for many decades to come,” he said.

“But the truth of the matter is these resources belong to the people of Queensland.

“The people of our state deserve a fair deal for their resources.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick says the state’s resources belong to all Queenslanders. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The Treasurer said coal companies were welcoming “super profits” while pointing to the fact that no one in parliament had opposed the new royalties tiers when the state budget passed.

It comes after Japanese ambassador to Australia Shingo Yamagami, in a speech to the University of Queensland on Wednesday, warned some companies were already questioning if the state would continue to be the “safe and predictable place” to invest.

And he warned this could reach further than coal, pointing at the business opportunities between Queensland and Japan in the burgeoning hydrogen industry.

The Queensland Government, in its State Budget, revealed coalmining companies would cop their first royalties hike in a decade — a move expected to inject an additional $1.2 billion into Queensland coffers.

The new royalty regime adds three tiers to the existing tiered structure, with companies to now pay 20 per cent on the dollar when coal prices exceed $175 per tonne, 30 per cent on the dollar when prices climb beyond $225 per tonne and 40 per cent when they exceed $300.

Resource industry peak bodies, mining companies and investment banks were taken by surprise, with many warning future investment was now at risk.

“This will have a huge impact on mining companies’ bottom line, including Japanese companies that have operated in Queensland for decades,” Mr Yamagami said.

Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami

He was concerned about the damage this could do to the trust and goodwill that Japanese businesses had built up with Queensland over the years.

“In Queensland coal alone, there’s Idemitsu, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and many others,” he said.

“No other country in Australia’s history has been so involved in every stage of the resources supply chain: finding, digging and shipping.

“The companies I mentioned earlier are involved not only with minerals, but hydrogen, infrastructure and a variety of cutting-edge technologies.”

Mining and Energy Union president Tony Maher said it was disappointing to see the Ambassador’s comments when Japanese mining companies had been profiting from Queensland resources for decades.

“Coal prices are at staggering highs and no mining company is making investment decisions based on these prices, or on Queensland’s new royalty rates triggered by these prices,” he said.

“In fact, some Japanese players in the Queensland coal industry already had their coal assets on the market before the royalty changes.

“Sure, they would like to pocket a bigger share of the current super profits on the way out, but we’ll back a new hospital for Moranbah over bigger payouts for Japanese shareholders any day.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the comments from Mr Yamagami were unprecedented.

“I have never seen a comment like that from an ambassador about a government action … it’s absolutely unprecedented,” he said.

“It highlights the offence the Treasurer’s (Cameron Dick) comments about foreign companies has caused and also underlined the danger Queensland is in now.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane

Mr Dick, on the day the Budget was handed down, referred to the tax as one that “the foreign shareholders of coal companies won’t like” — signalling to Queenslanders this was not a tax on them.

Mr Yamagami, in his speech, pointed out Japanese company Mitsubishi was the eight highest taxpayer in the nation, contributing $1 billion in tax revenue in 2018.

He said Japanese companies were good corporate citizens.

“Just like you, your friends, your parents, they are your fellow Queenslanders,” Mr Yamagami said.

Originally published as Qld coal royalties hike: Japanese ambassador’s disappointment