Bligh, who announced the government's new coal plan at her annual address, also defended the state’s strategic cropping land policy which she said had been released for public discussion and would accommodate the views of both farmers and miners.
“The coal plan estimates that over the next 20 years the Queensland coal industry has the potential to significantly increase its production of saleable coal from approximately 190 million tonnes per annum up to 340 million tonnes per annum,” Bligh said.
“That is an increase of almost 80 per cent.”
In absolute terms, demand for coal will outstrip all other fuels, especially from newly developing economies in the region, while more established economies would favour gas, she said.
“Ninety-seven per cent of projected growth is expected to come from non-OECD countries like China and India,” she said.
“Developed countries on the other hand, like South Korea, are looking to reduce their reliance on coal.
“I think it speaks volumes about the diversification of the Queensland resource industry and about Queensland as a mines and energy powerhouse of Australia and the region.”
Executive director of the Queensland Conservation Council Toby Hutcheon said fossil fuel exports have a questionable future and that “when that market for fossil fuels falls, the future of the dependent Queensland economy is demonstrably under threat”
Turning to the “Lock the Gate” campaign launched by farmers in southern Queensland earlier this week, Bligh defended the state’s strategic cropping land policy, which she said would provide certainty for miners and farmers.
“Government has an obligation to prevent the permanent alienation of the best of the best food producing country in Queensland,” she said.
According to an AAP report Queensland Resources Minister Stephen Robertson said the government had gone a long way to meeting the concerns of landholders who are objecting to the activities of coal and gas explorers on their land.
"New laws have been put in place to recognise the rights of landholders," he said.
QRC also launched a website it said details the contribution mining makes to the Queensland economy.
