Coal prices are at record highs and royalties payments to state coffers are forecast to grow by billions, but some coal communities say not enough is filtering down to their towns.
It comes as the election of a Labor government and Greens to seats in south-east Queensland leaves some in regional parts of the state feeling apprehensive about their mining and agriculture communities.
Coal exports have hit a record $110 billion this financial year, with prices in Australia soaring to more than $400 per tonne for thermal coal.
Higher grade coking coal, used to make steel, has traded as high as $700 per tonne.
The coal boom is being driven by international energy shortages and made worse by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
But it is also driving business in Queensland coal communities and exacerbating a worker shortage across the industry.
SMW Group chief executive officer Jack Trenaman said the boom meant more work and more jobs at his Rockhampton industrial fabrication business servicing the coal industry.
Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian McFarlane said the boom was being felt across the industry, along with the accompanying worker shortage.
"It is starting to limit the potential of operations, particularly where operations are looking to expand their production to meet that extra demand," he said.
More local investment
Mining activity is the largest economic contributor to the Queensland economy.
The resources council said the sector generated about $80 billion in exports each year.
There are calls in some central Queensland coal communities for more of the profits to be invested locally.
Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker said unexpected royalty increases could be reinvested into the communities from which the wealth came.
"We produce over 54 per cent of Queensland's export coal, and a third of Australia's [metallurgical] coal," Ms Baker said.
Ms Baker said all levels of government needed to spend more money on preserving mining communities and their jobs in the transition to renewables, as well as basic services.
"These are the [things] that people assess [when they're considering] moving to a region."
Central Highlands Regional Council Mayor Kerry Hayes, whose region includes some coal mining, said the relationship with resource companies was "proactive".
Mr Hayes said it was hard to quantify how much of the profits made it back to the region.
"Of grants and subsidies that we receive [from state government], we only receive 23 per cent, which is half the average of the resource councils," Mr Hayes said.
Mr Hayes said essential and social infrastructure needed to be upgraded.
He said that could help attract more people to fill big gaps in the local workforce but it would require extra funding.
Extra $30 billion in royalties
Minelife senior resource analyst Gavin Wendt said coal profits had not been as high since 2011.
But he said there was no rule about where and how the royalties should be spent.
"It's a nice concept … but typically with royalties, that's not the way it works. The royalties generated tend to go into consolidated as far as government is concerned," Mr Wendt said.
The Queensland government said updated royalty estimates and their expenditure would be detailed in next month's budget.
The previous federal government's budget papers from March said government tax receipts would be almost $30 billion higher over the next four years if coal and iron ore prices remained elevated until the end of the September quarter.
Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the state government would always invest heavily in regional infrastructure and frontline service delivery.
"We know how important the resources sector has been as part of our economic recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic," he said.
"It was this government that established the Resources Community Infrastructure Fund, which is a $100 million partnership formed between the [Annastacia] Palaszczuk government and resources sector.
"Matters around revenue and expenditure measures are part of the budget process."
