Newman, who said he had listened to complaints from the community, told ABC radio about the possibility of coal trains being covered to minimise dust exposure for those living along the rail line.

"I think it's incumbent upon [the coal mines] to start to move to better forms of practice," Newman reportedly said.

"There are chemicals, a type of solution they can spray after the wagon is loaded to try to stop dust ... but I think there's a time in the not too distant future where the community will be right to start to demand the wagons are closed."

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche recently told an industry forum that coal mining in Queensland was under attack by special interest groups such as Greenpeace and Lock the Gate, which had a strategy of “colonising” genuine community groups to influence concerns and delay coal projects.

Their ultimate aim is to undermine the social licence of the industry and stop growth by shaking the confidence of the investment community, he said.

Campbell said he would pursue the matter with deputy premier Jeff Seeney and environment minister Andrew Powell about how to alter coal routes to avoid metropolitan areas of Brisbane.

"I think that's something that has to be dealt with. You can't keep expanding tonnages on a line going through metropolitan and urban areas and exposing people to dust," Newman said.

"There is another proposal to change the alignment and change the freight route into the Port of Brisbane, maybe that will have benefits as well.

"I understand that's the subject of a private study at the moment with the Port of Brisbane.”