Queensland’s treasurer has warned BHP that its mining leases might be in jeopardy if the company does not continue investing in the state.
Cameron Dick used the day of BHP’s full-year results to continue his stoush with the mining lobby over Queensland’s progressive coal royalties, first telling the Australian newspaper that the government would not hesitate to revoke mining tenures being “misused” before telling parliament that firms had to “use or lose” their leases.
The three-tier royalties regime introduced last year brought in billions of extra revenue and helped the Palaszczuk government deliver a record $12.3bn surplus in 2022-23.
The treasurer has clashed repeatedly with mining companies that have warned the royalties would deter further investment in Queensland.
BHP’s chief executive, Mike Henry, said in June that the mining giant “will not be investing any further growth dollars in Queensland under the current conditions”.
The company on Tuesday posted an underlying profit of $US13.4bn, which the treasurer told state parliament “was a larger profit than any of Australia’s big banks and is BHP’s fourth-largest profit ever”.
“The strength of BHP is balance sheet acting speaker and the impending windfall it will make from selling the Daunia and Blackwater mines shows just what BHP can achieve when it focuses on its core business,” Dick said.
He then warned that although the government wanted resource companies to be successful, “we want those companies to properly develop the leases that they have been granted by the people of Queensland”.
If obligations were not followed, the resources minister could impose financial penalties or even cancel a lease, the treasurer said.
“Or putting it another way, in the words of senior LNP Queensland senator Matt Canavan, companies like BHP are obliged, quote, to ‘use it or lose it’.”
BHP’s CEO defended the company’s position on investment due to the royalties as not “particularly controversial”.
“In essence what we’re saying is that if returns go down, and risk goes up, of course that makes investments elsewhere in relative terms more attractive,” Henry said while discussing Tuesday’s results.
“Any business – or frankly, any of us in our personal finances – would look at it in exactly the same way.”
The Queensland Resources Council’s CEO, Ian Macfarlane, said the government should take the royalties’ impact on mining investment seriously.
BHP had made it clear Queensland’s “excessive new royalty taxes” had increased the risk of future investment and the council knew other companies were also reviewing their investment plans for Queensland, Macfarlane said in a statement.
“In 2021-22, our sector contributed $94.6 billion to the state economy and supported the jobs of more than 450,000 people, which gives some idea of what’s at stake.”
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
