“Today we have a magnificent unity ticket of Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull telling us that if we only rip $13 billion in carbon taxes out of the coal industry then it is all going to be hunky dory and all of the concerns about mine closures and job losses in regional Queensland and New South Wales will go away,” Roche told more than 750 delegates at the council’s annual lunch.

Roche was on the attack over the government’s new CPRS. While the government this week declared the new scheme would double compensation for the coal sector to $A1.5 billion over five years, Roche sees it differently.

“You may have noticed that the Australian coal industry has been making a lot of noise recently about global competitiveness, and it has nothing to do with exchange rates,” he said.

“Its gripe is over a myopic view from Canberra that you can impose $14.5 billion worth of additional taxes on the country’s leading export industry over the next 10 years – through the treatment of coal mining in the CPRS – and expect to have no impact on global competitiveness or future investment.

“Australia and Queensland’s biggest export earner is coal and it’s being told it must pay to prop up the CPRS arithmetic.

“Everyone should be very clear on this. The package that Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull want the Senate to ratify this week provides the coal mining sector with transitional assistance equal to a mere 10 per cent of their cost of carbon permits over the next 10 years.

“Contrast that with transitional assistance in the order of 66 to 95 per cent being proposed for other trade-exposed industries.”

The NSW Minerals Council issued a similar sentiment, stating coal companies would receive “no windfall” from the government’s new scheme.

“Instead of costing the coal mining industry $14.5 billion over 10 years, it’s going to cost $13 billion for carbon permits under the CPRS. That’s a $13 billion handicap that our international competitors won’t face,” NSWMC strategy and policy manager Sue-Ern Tan said.

“This deal amounts to a new tax on coal mining – the first of its type anywhere in the world – that still put jobs at risk and could force some coal mines in regional NSW to shut down prematurely for no environmental benefit.

“Every tonne of coal not produced in Australia as a result of this tax will be produced by competitors overseas who aren’t being penalised by their governments.”

At the QRC lunch, Roche also spoke on the uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the Queensland Rail coal transport business and the Abbott Point coal terminal.

He said while the coal industry had not pushed for privatisation, it did not oppose it.

“What we do care about is getting the new ownership structure right,” Roche said.

“The coal industry is very clear in supporting an ownership structure that promotes performance, invests to meet industry needs, maintains a sustainable cost structure and operates reliably to get our product to our customers.

“We need to put it on the record that the coal industry is strongly opposed to the creation of a privatised, integrated QR coal transport business which has monopoly control over the coal track network while also operating a coal freight business in competition with other providers who need to access that track network.

“By breaking the QR coal business up and separately selling the above rail coal freight business and the below rail coal track business, there will emerge ownership options which are well aligned to industry’s needs around performance, investment, cost and reliability.”