Making up for Lost Ground in Resources Exploration

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) welcomes the announcement by the State Government to release more land for natural gas, coal and mineral exploration in Queensland.

The release will open 18 new areas for exploration in the Cooper, Surat and Bowen Basins, as well as land around Julia Creek in Queensland’s Northwest.

QRC Chief Executive Officer Janette Hewson said releasing new land for natural gas, coal and minerals exploration is making up for lost ground after many years without new opportunities.

“Exploration is the lifeblood of the resources sector. Without it, there are no future projects. Exploration is the first step in a long process that can take years, and sometimes decades, to reach production,” said Ms Hewson.

“Land releases are an important step forward and must be supported with the right policy settings to attract investment and progress projects to production.

“The State Government is taking steps to review policy settings, reflected in improved sentiment toward Queensland in the Fraser Institute Report 2025 (ranking 13th).

“However, coal investment is still being negatively impacted by the current royalties regime and Queensland’s 48th place in the Taxation category of the Fraser Institute Report underscores how far we trail other countries, states and territories.”

Background Information

Each year the Queensland Exploration Council (QEC), the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) exploration arm, releases an annual scorecard about investment sentiment in Queensland. 

The 2025 Scorecard revealed declining investment, projects and expenditure in Queensland with coal exploration dropping by 18%.

Media Contact:

Matt Dunstan– [email protected]