PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has called on the members of the state Parliament to support Liberal National Party’s (LNP’s) proposal to freeze royalty rates for the next ten years, saying it would protect the Queensland economy from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane this week said that maintaining the royalty rates in Queensland, which were already the highest in Australia, would send a clear message to investors that Queensland was "open for business".

“Before Covid-19 hit, the Queensland government confirmed the royalty rates on coal and metals would remain stable until 2022, and for petroleum until 2025, which the resources industry welcomed,” Macfarlane said.

“Given the importance of the resources sector in leading the state in its economic recovery, the QRC welcomes the announcement by the LNP that it would legislate a 10-year freeze on royalty rates until 2030, because it’s exactly what Queensland needs right now.

“As the peak representative body for Queensland's explorers and producers of coal, metals and gas and supplier companies, the QRC calls on all members of state Parliament to support the LNP’s proposal to give the industry the confidence to play its part in Queensland’s Covid-19 recovery.”

Macfarlane said the resources industry had been through a period of turmoil and upheaval with Queensland’s royalty regime, to the sector’s detriment.

“We know Queensland’s regulatory uncertainty has already impacted investment decisions for resource projects which operate for decades, and benefit our state economy for even longer,” he said.

“A decade of royalty certainty is the shot in the arm the Queensland economy needs as we unite and recover from Covid-19.”

Macfarlane said as Queensland’s largest export industry, the resources sector is committed to paying its fair share of royalties, and the LNP proposal would lock in that definition of fair for a decade.

“Without new investment, jobs, exports and royalties the Queensland government will simply not be in a position to finance a Covid-19 recovery,” he said.

“Before Covid-19, the Queensland resources sector employed more than 372 000 Queenslanders and generated A$76-billion in economic activity across the state, creating more than A$5-billion in government royalty revenue. Queensland needs to secure every job and every dollar, if we are to bounce back from Covid-19 as quickly and as strongly as possible,” Macfarlane said.

Meanwhile, the QRC has also called for an industry-developed Covid-19 recovery plan to assist employment in Queensland, after the state’s jobless rate reached 8.8%, marking it as Australia’s highest unemployment rate.

Macfarlane said the industry had worked extremely hard to flatten the curve and to keep the workers prior to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The resources industry is seeking an industry development plan to work in partnership with government to seize on the opportunities for new investment and new jobs across the state.

“The industry needs greater certainty about the assessment and approval processes for new projects and stability on the taxes and royalties the industry pays.”