Fresh out of school, Michael Kidd arrived in central Queensland coal country excited to make the most of the mining boom.
"When I first moved to Blackwater, a lot of people were on roster," he said.
"The town was thriving."
Now living in Rockhampton, the father-of-four says Blackwater has changed over the past 15 years, but he continues to support the mining community.
"Places like Blackwater where the camp is in the community, we're going and eating at the local pub, getting a coffee from the local café, the bakery," he said.
Mr Kidd lives in the federal electorate of Capricornia and works in neighbouring Flynn.
Despite the rise of the Greens and independents in capital cities, Queensland coal mining communities have remained loyal to the Liberal National Party.
But there's anxiety about what a change in government will mean for those who make their living from the resources sector.
"A lot of Labor's policies, I probably very well agree on, but it appears to me that [the LNP] is pro-coal, pro-mining," he said.
"There's a lot of talk from Labor about how we're looking to move away from coal, shut down coal-fired power stations."
With his livelihood in mind, the 35-year-old voted for LNP incumbent Michelle Landry, who retained Capricornia for a fourth term.
"I do feel somewhat better about the fact that there is a voice for people like me — that's basically in a nutshell why people around this area have voted that way."
Labor to 'continue mining and exporting coal'
Re-elected Labor Senator Murray Watt said the view of Labor as anti-coal was the result of "a scare campaign by the LNP".
"We will continue mining and exporting coal for some time to come," he said.
Labor has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, along with a 2030 target of a 43 per cent cut in emissions.
"What will be different under a Labor government is that we will also be trying to expand new industries and new jobs in regional areas," he said.
The party said its Powering Australia plan would create more than 600,000 new jobs, cut power prices by $275 a year per household by 2025 and boost private investment.
It does not mention closing mines or coal-fired power stations.
"Swings of up to 11 per cent in Dysart, 8 per cent in Moranbah, 10 per cent in some Emerald booths.
"Now people will have the opportunity to see with their own eyes what a Labor government does, I think that they'll see that those scare campaigns were completely false."
Disconnect 'between politics and reality'
In the electorate of Flynn, grazier and miner Chris Whiteman said some were concerned about the future implications of a policy shift.
"People fear change, and the fact that we have gone from a long Liberal government to a new Labor government moving in, there is some anxiety in the industry for what could happen," he said.
The LNP voter has lived near the central Queensland town of Rolleston for two decades.
"However, there certainly is an appetite for that in inner-city electorates."
The 46-year-old said there was a disconnect "between the politics and the reality" of phasing coal out.
"For any government that wants to move away from coal, the industries that replace the coal jobs will have to come before the coal mines shut," he said.
"There will have to be a transition that involves other industries coming into the same regions as where the coal mines are, replacing and seeking out jobs, from people in coal."
He said he would be watching how Labor shifts its policy closely.
"Only time will tell. Hopefully, this government will look after us and won't do anything too rash," he said.
'We're not going anywhere'
Kym Hellmuth, her husband and two children, work at their Emerald-based family business.
They have operated the engineering company, which services the coal mining, agriculture and civil industries, since 1997.
"We're not going anywhere soon, and we definitely can see that," Ms Hellmuth said.
With 60 per cent of its operations reliant on the coal industry, Ms Hellmuth hoped Labor would not be pushed too far by the Greens and the Independents.
"With the climate control and the emissions, you read some policies, and you just think, 'Oh, where is this going to end up,'" she said.
Ms Hellmuth said it was a misconception that the industry was already winding up.
"We've still got many years of life in the coal out here, and I don't think that the south of Australia realise that," she said.
"We are all moving towards zero emissions, but we've got some time to get there.
