QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane said the policy would also increase global greenhouse gas emissions with more lower quality, higher emission coals sourced from Indonesia and India to replace the Australian coal production.

“Raising coal royalties for existing mines to 18.75% would severely damage Queensland’s sovereign risk profile at a time when unemployment rates in the regions are already in the double digits,” he said.

Macfarlane said that in 2016 the Queensland coal industry injected $32.7 billion into the state’s economy, underpinned more than 183,000 jobs and directly supported more than 450 community organisations.

“The Greens keep talking about subsidies to mining, when no credible analysis has ever been able to identify subsidies,” he said.

“With a $2.8 billion surplus in 2016-17 it is difficult to ignore the fact that coal royalties surged by 97% or an extra $1.897 billion to deliver the highest surplus in a decade.”