Key Points

We’ve suffered a lost decade of mining revenue. Between 2010 and 2020 mining corporations exported over $480 billion of coal, minerals and LNG and only paid 7% on that in royalties. While the big five banks have made $172 billion in profit over the last four years by screwing us over with high interest rates and fees. Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars has gone into the pockets of multinational corporations.

The Greens will: 

• Raise an extra $55 billion over four years by increasing coal and LNG royalities to 35% and 20% for base and precious metals.
   

• Raise over $4.6 billion over four years by imposing a state level big bank levy of 0.05% on the five biggest banks operating in Queensland. Banks will be prohibited by law from passing on the cost of the levy directly to customers. 

• Tax developers on land value gains from rezoning, reducing corruption and raising $7.8 billion over four years.

Raise Mining Royalties 

The Greens will:

• Raise an extra $55 billion over four years off our coal, LNG and minerals 
   
• Raise the coal and petroleum (including LNG) royalty rate to a flat 35%
   
• Raise the royalty rates for base and precious metals, and Bauxite to a flat 20% 
  • Including: Cobalt, copper, gold, lead, nickel, silver and zinc 
     
• Abolish the well-head petroleum royalty pricing method for LNG and instead charge the royalty to a rate based on the ACCC’s netback LNG price 
   
• Abolish all government subsidies to the coal and LNG industry and end royalty deals like the one currently being negotiated with Adani 

Mining Royalties Costings

We need to phase out thermal coal by 2030 so the Greens’ costings assume thermal coal production will halve by 2025. We’ve also assumed that there will be a 14 million tonnes reduction in coking coal (coal used to make steel) as we begin the longer term transition to zero carbon production, including green steel. Meanwhile the Greens believe there should be no new LNG or coal mines in Queensland, so we’ve assumed no increase in LNG production over this period. Finally, we’ve used the latest Queensland Treasury and ACCC data on coal and LNG prices.

Queensland Big Bank Levy 

The Greens will impose a State-based Big Bank Levy of 0.05% of total liabilities per quarter on the five biggest banks operating in Queensland and raise over $4.7 billion over four years, or $1.2 billion every year: 

• The rate will be set at 0.05% per quarter (or 0.2% per year) and apply to Queensland’s share of bank liabilities (which is their main source of revenue) that are subject to the Commonwealth’s Major Bank levy (Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Macquarie).   

• The Queensland share of bank liabilities will be calculated using Queensland’s Gross State Product as a share of national GDP which is currently 18.9%. 

• Banks will be prohibited by law from passing on the cost of the levy directly to customers. 

Bank Levy Costings

The below estimate is based on the proportions of liabilities held by each of the five banks, according to figures from Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). As an example, the $291 million the Commonwealth Bank would pay in 2019/20 would represent about 0.7% of its total yearly revenue.  

Developer Tax

The Greens will:

• Make developers pay for public services and infrastructure we all need, with a 75% Developer Tax on land value gains from rezoning. This would reduce corruption and parasitic land speculation, and raise $7.8 billion over four years. 
   
• Remove the $20,000 cap on developer infrastructure charges to give councils the flexibility to charge developers according to the cost of delivering crucial infrastructure.

Developer Tax Costings

The Greens would impose a 75% Developer Tax on increases in land value due to rezoning. Estimates from Murray and Frijters show that Queensland would raise $1.9 billion per year by implementing a tax like this. .  

In the ACT, a similar set of policies brings in $183 million per year on a much smaller tax base.  This system has been in place since 1971.  

The Developer Tax would apply to any land which is rezoned to a higher use, whether as part of a new neighbourhood plan or on an ad hoc basis. It would be levied at 75% of the difference between the officially assessed land value before the rezoning compared to the land value afterwards. 

The amount of tax due would be assessed at the time the land is rezoned. Landowners would not need to pay the tax until a development application is approved under the new higher zone.