By Aisling Brennan
Copyright abc
A second Queensland coal miner in as many days has announced job cuts, with Anglo American confirming roles have gone at its Brisbane office and in the Bowen Basin.
Anglo American declined to detail the number of redundancies, but Isaac Regional Council said more than 200 positions were involved.
Workers at the company’s underground Grosvenor coal mine near Moranbah, which has been closed since an underground fire in June 2024, were among those offered redundancies.
Confirmation of the Anglo American cuts followed mining giant BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA) decision to scrap 750 jobs and mothball its Saraji South mine at Dysart from November.
Isaac Regional Council Mayor Kelly Vea Vea said about 1,020 jobs were affected between the two miners.
“I don’t think that we should be complacent about what this means for the future of the mining sector and in particular resource communities,” she said.
In a statement, Ben Mansour, vice president of people and corporate relations at Anglo American Australia, said workforce changes were to “ensure the long-term sustainability of our business”.
“These changes are essential to secure the future of our steelmaking coal operations in Central Queensland,” Mr Mansour said.
“Our focus is on supporting safe, core operations and simplifying our business to adapt to ongoing market pressures — including lower coal prices and rising costs.”
Royalties final straw
In a statement on Wednesday, BMA described the job cuts as necessary due to the “combined impact of the Queensland government’s unsustainable coal royalties and market conditions”.
MineLife senior resource analyst Gavin Wendt said BMA’s decision was not “a shock” because the Queensland government’s royalties scheme was “one of the biggest issues facing the coal industry”.
“It’s been something that has been brewing for quite a long time, especially as coal prices have eased off from their record highs, and at the same time cost inflation in the industry has been going up,” Mr Wendt said.
Under the scheme, introduced by the former Labor government and supported by the current Liberal government, mining companies pay a higher percentage of royalties when the price of coal increases.
Mr Wendt said consecutive state governments had not listened to experts who warned the high coal royalties could “come back to bite the industry”.
Communities to feel the brunt of BHP shutdown
Councillor Vea Vea said the community felt it was “caught in the crossfire” between the mining industry and the government over mining royalties.
She said it felt like the Queensland government had “its hands over its ears,” and it was time for both parties to sit down and talk.
“We want to ensure everyone has a secure future in the mining sector, [so] that we know there’s a clear pathway out of this debate,” she said.
Advocacy group Greater Whitsunday Alliance also pushed for action.
“Lots of other mining companies are on the record as saying that they can’t invest in Queensland at the moment because the future pipeline of certainty around royalties doesn’t stack up,” chief executive Kylie Porter said.
“It does not equate to making Queensland a good and sound investment.”
Calls for royalties to be revisited
Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki confirmed the government had no plans to change Queensland’s royalty regime, while hinting at “some exciting investment announcements in Queensland mining in the near future”.
Resource analyst Gavin Wendt said unless the government changed its position on royalties, or there was recovery in coal prices, more jobs were likely to be cut across the industry.
“Companies have to cut costs, and those costs have to be cut because there is just no margin there,” he said.
“The margins are shrinking for coal companies.”
