Source: Straight from the source – August 2025
AREEA says BHP cuts prove government’s punitive taxes risk destroying jobs and investment
The Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association (AREEA) is unsurprised that BHP has today confirmed 750 job cuts across its Bowen Basin operations, having long warned Queensland’s coal royalty regime was unsustainable.
AREEA’s 2024 Resources and Energy Workforce Forecast report last year predicted investment and jobs in Queensland’s mining sector would suffer due to the impacts of the previous government’s coal royalty hike.
The Association’s 2025 report – due for release in coming weeks – will show the future health of the Queensland mining sector will largely depend upon the current government shoring up investor confidence and ensuring new coal projects in its development pipeline go ahead.
“750 job losses is a significant enough tragedy. But the impact this will have on the Dysart community – which caters for coal mining, cattle grazing and other agriculture – will be enormous,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM, said.
“This is not just about one company. Coal mining sustains tens of thousands of direct jobs and many more indirect jobs in small businesses across regional Queensland. It funds schools, hospitals, police, roads and services.
“Every Queenslander benefits from a strong coal sector.
“We recognise the Crisafulli Government inherited this coal royalty regime, but if it does nothing and the coal sector collapses, there will be no revenue to fund essential programs, and those regional communities reliant on mining operations will be gutted.
“Unless urgent action is taken to reset the royalty system to competitive, sustainable levels, more mines will close, more jobs will go, and the economic foundations of Queensland will be permanently weakened.”
Mr Knott said the Queensland Government now faces a critical choice: act to restore competitiveness or preside over the decline of the state’s most important industry.
“Instead of protecting and strengthening this industry, the current coal royalty regime is actively undermining it,” he said.
“These punitive taxes are now seeing global investors walk away from Queensland, which has long been one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in the world.”
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