In a presentation to the second Surat Basin Coal Conference last week, CFMEU Mining and Energy vice-president Stuart Vaccaneo said it would lobby for better accommodation and community infrastructure in the emerging mining region.

He said the communities had a short window of opportunity to influence the decisions on the type and location of accommodation available to new workers and the company contributions to community infrastructure.

“That is why the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division has lobbied and placed as part of its submission to the Minerals Resources Act Review that the social/infrastructure impact of the mine be part of the environmental impact statement approval of a mining lease,” Vaccaneo told the conference.

He said it was "vital” for the Surat Basin communities to carefully and quickly decide on the style of development they wanted for their towns and communities.

“Whichever option is the community preference, it needs to be determined what additional contributions by the mining companies and the State Government are needed to upgrade the communities’ infrastructure and services,” he said.

The strain on existing infrastructure such as roads, water, sewerage, police, medical and emergency services needed to be considered, Vaccaneo said.

In a keynote address to the conference, Queensland Resources Council chief Michael Roche reviewed the move by the Queensland Government to increase the level of coal royalties.

He told the conference that coal royalties were now the single largest source of state-based revenue for the Queensland Government, easily outperforming stamp duties and payroll tax.