The Queensland government has missed out on more than $500 million in mining royalties in the past decade, and will lose more, a group opposed to a controversial mining project says.
The Friends of Felton group opposed to Ambre Energy's plans to mine in a farming area 30km southwest of Toowoomba, said the Queensland government would receive no mining royalties if it approved the project.
Their argument hinges on the Mineral and Resources Act 1989, which states that "Coal on or below the surface of the land is the property of the Crown except where that land was alienated in fee simple by the Crown before 1 March 1910".
"Legal advice obtained by Friends of Felton indicates that royalties payable on any coal mined at Felton would not be payable to the Queensland government," spokesman Rob McCreath said.
"Farms at Felton were granted freehold title long before 1910."
Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Stephen Robertson, confirmed that royalties were not always paid to the state.
"Prior to 1 March 1910, not all mineral rights were vested in the state," he said in answer to a parliamentary question on notice.
"Consequently, the state is not always the recipient of royalty revenue.
"There are various combinations of private mineral rights holdings, including the ownership of all minerals contained within the land, other than gold, or just a single mineral, for example coal or copper.
"Should mining take place on this land, the holder of mineral royalty rights, which may be the landholder or another party, would collect the royalty rather than the state.
"The Mineral Resources Act 1989 provides that royalties will be paid to the owner of the mineral royalty rights at the rate prescribed by the act."
Mr Robertson said that for the 10 years to the end of 2009, royalties on coal accruing to parties other than the Queensland government amounted to about $554.1 million.
"For the 10 years ended December 31, 2009, total royalties collected by the state amounted to $11.4 billion," he said.
Mr McCreath said the Ambre Energy proposal for an eight million-tonne per year open-cut coal mine, a petrochemical plant to convert the coal into liquid fuel, and a power station "clearly fails the public interest test".
He said the proposal threatened enormous damage to the environment, agriculture, and the community, while returning no compensation in the form of royalties to the state.
"The minister's answer confirms our legal advice that the Queensland government would gain no royalties from coal mining at Felton," he said.
"The minister must reject this proposal immediately."
Comment is being sought from Ambre Energy.
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