QRC lodges registration as third party under Electoral Act (Qld)

9 October 2020

The Queensland Resources Council confirmed today it has applied to register as a third party under the Electoral Act. QRC is the peak representative body of the mining and gas industry in Queensland and has not previously been required to register as a lobby group.

As a result of recent changes in the Queensland Parliament to the Electoral Act, QRC had self-assessed in line with the guidance provided by the ECQ website and on the basis it was not supporting individual candidates or a registered political party, deemed it was not required to register.

The ECQ website states: “A third party is an individual or an entity, based in or outside Queensland, who makes donations or incurs electoral expenditure in support of candidates or registered political parties.”

QRC sought advice from ECQ, which has conceded that the website was not clear and that it would be updated to reflect expenditure incurred in support of and in opposition to candidates and registered political parties.

Based on ECQ’s advice today, and because QRC is opposing a registered political party, QRC has lodged its application for registration with the ECQ as a third party.

QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the council will comply with all the requirements of the Act, including disclosing the cost of a series of awareness campaigns being run in the lead-up to the state election.He said the campaigns were about creating a conversation about the importance of the resources sector to Queensland jobs and the state economy.

“The first part of our campaign focussed on the message ‘You can count on us to help Queensland recover’ has been well received with people prioritising the importance of a stable economy and job security, particularly because of the impact of COVID-19,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The next part of our campaign, which is controversial but well overdue, is alerting Queensland voters to the fact that a vote for the Greens right now, or even a preference vote for the Greens in this election, could destroy tens of thousands of jobs in the mining and gas sector and thousands of small businesses who rely on it for their livelihood if the Greens get into a position of influence and power in the next State Government.

“The last thing Queensland needs is a one-issue party who have made it their priority to destroy the mining and gas sector. Their policy to quadruple royalties from $4.5B to $18B per year, leaving mining and gas companies financially unviable and forcing them to close down and leave tens of thousands of Queenslanders jobless.

“The resources sector has been a life raft to Queensland during COVID-19 and it’s completely irresponsible for any party to be publicly advocating for it to be shut down.”

Mr Macfarlane said the accusation from the Greens that the resources industry didn’t want to pay it’s “fair share” in mining royalties was ridiculous. “Queensland’s resources industry contributed $74 billion to the state economy last year, paid $4.5 billion in royalties and exported almost $60 billion worth of goods in the past 12 months, which represents 80 per cent of Queensland’s total exports.

“We have 14,400 small businesses who rely on the sector for their income. The sector employs 372,000 people, and our company’s employees are among the highest paid in Queensland which benefits their families, the communities in which they live and our state economy.”

Authorised by Ian Macfarlane, QRC, 133 Mary Street, Brisbane Q 4000