The Greens are announcing plans to establish Queensland Minerals, a State Government-owned mining company that would expand critical minerals production in Queensland’s North-West Minerals Province and make sure the profits are shared fairly. 

Although the Greens’ plan would be novel for Queensland, publicly owned mining companies are commonplace and successful around the world. Globally, more than a third of resource production is carried out by state-owned enterprises, and public mining companies in Sweden, Norway and Chile each deliver billions in public revenue every year to spend on public health, education, services and infrastructure.

The plan includes: 

• Creating a publicly owned mining company, Queensland Minerals, to take a direct ownership share of Queensland’s estimated $500 billion in critical mineral wealth
• An initial $4 billion investment in Queensland Minerals, with revenue expected to reach $14 billion by 2050 
• 1,000 new mining jobs, with priority given to former coal and gas mine workers as well as local First Nations people 

Michael Berkman, Greens MP: 

“Coal jobs and royalties have helped keep Queensland running for decades, but now we need a plan for what’s next. 

“For decades Labor and the LNP have let Australia’s mining wealth flow straight into the pockets of big multinational corporations, with 86% of their profits going to overseas shareholders.

“Instead of squandering the next mining boom sending profits overseas, the Greens want to keep them right here in Queensland. 

“Queensland Minerals, the Greens’ proposed public mining company, would mean Queenslanders get a fair share from our critical mineral wealth. 

“100% of profits from Queensland Minerals would go back to the people of Queensland, with an extra $14 billion to spend on things like hospitals, schools and housing. 

“The best job for a coal miner is another mining job, which is why we’d give former coal and gas workers priority for jobs at Queensland Minerals. 

“Queenslanders have missed out on the benefits that so many other countries around the world get from publicly owned mining companies. It’s time to fix that. 

“Queensland’s North West Minerals Province has an estimated $500 billion worth of the critical minerals we need for new technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. 

“We should be aiming to capture more than half of that for the people of Queensland, like they do in Norway. 

“Under Labor, Queensland taxpayers are already paying billions to support new mining infrastructure - we think the benefits should come back to taxpayers, not big multinationals’ profits."

Background: Publicly owned mining company

Capturing the next mining boom

Over the last decade, only 3% of Australia’s oil and gas revenue flowed to the public as taxes or royalties, while Norway captured 55% in taxes, royalties and profits thanks to its publicly owned oil company. 

In Queensland, highly profitable gas corporations Santos and Shell have paid just 4% in royalties on their $120 billion in LNG exports in the decade plus since 2012 (Source: Qld Treasury Budget papers 2012-13 to 2023-24 and export data). 

Operating model 

Queensland Minerals will be a government owned corporation paying 100% of its profits to the people of Queensland. It will own and operate key critical minerals mining projects in the North West Minerals Province (NWMP), with an initial investment of $4 billion from the Queensland Treasury, funded by the Greens’ plan to raise royalties on coal and gas. 

The Greens would amend Queensland law to ensure that Queensland Minerals receives first priority for any new exploration and mining licences for critical minerals in the NWMP, secured via changes to State legislation. The public mining company will also acquire existing exploration and mineral development licences from private mining companies on commercial terms, paying a fair price based on the value of those leases. 

Existing subsidies for private critical minerals mining

The Queensland government is already spending more than $6 billion in subsidies for the private mining industry, which is 86% foreign owned. That includes:

• Building an 800km, $6 billion taxpayer-funded electricity transmission line called CopperString 2032 to power mining sites. 
• Direct cash handouts like the $55 million subsidy in the form of $0 rent on minerals leases. 
• $17.5 million in direct cash payments for mining companies under the Collaborative Exploration Initiative. 

These subsidies are on top of the Federal government’s $7 billion cash handout for big mining companies, the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive.  

Overseas examples

Globally, more than a third of resource production is carried out by state-owned enterprises. Public mining companies in Norway, Sweden and Chile each deliver billions in public revenue every year to spend on public health, education, services and infrastructure. 

• Norway: Equinor is Norway’s main oil and gas company, owned ⅔ by the Norwegian government. It makes an annual profit of $44 billion. Equinor’s earnings combined with a high royalty and corporate tax rates for private companies means that the people of Norway keep 55% of the value of their oil and gas, $38,000 per year per Norwegian. The same number for Australia is 3%, and in Queensland big gas companies have paid just 4% in royalties on their $120 billion in revenue over the last decade. That is less than $100 per Queenslander per year. 
• Sweden: LKAB is Europe's largest supplier of Iron ore and is wholly owned by the Swedish government. It brings in $2.74 billion in profits every year, a profit margin of 44%.
  
  
• Chile: Codelco is the world’s largest copper miner and smelter and is owned by the Chilean government. In 2022, Codelco contributed $5.3 billion to the public purse in profits and royalties, or 33% of the company’s revenue. Private copper mining companies paid less, just 8.9% of their revenue.
  
  
• India: NMDC is an iron ore and minerals mining company 70% owned by the government of India. It has a 53% profit margin and makes $1.6 billion in annual profits. NMDC even owns lithium and gold mining and exploration projects in Western Australia. If it makes sense for international governments to own Australian mines, why not ours?

Critical mineral resources

There is an estimated $500 billion of critical minerals in the North West Minerals Province critical to decarbonising the global economy, including:

• $215 billion worth of zinc, used for galvanising wind turbines, solar panels, and other infrastructure to protect against rust. Zinc batteries are also being developed as a non-flammable, low-cost alternative to lithium.
• $119 billion of copper, the most cost-effective corrosion resistant conductor of electricity.
• $15 billion worth of cobalt for batteries.
• $28 billion of gold, a corrosion resistant conductor of electricity important for manufacturing efficient, hi-tech electronics and energy infrastructure.
• $104 billion worth of lead, used for making highly recyclable batteries as well as insulating sheaths for power cables.
• $69 billion of silver which is used to make solar panels.
• Plus graphite, vanadium, rhenium, molybdenum, and rare earth elements.