Under the changes, mining companies will no longer have to pay GST of 10% on the rehabilitation bonds they lodge with the state government.

Australian Greens mining spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said the Queensland Audit Office has only recently warned that Queensland is at risk of massive liabilities because the government doesn't have enough money in the bank to cover the clean-up costs.

“The Palaszczuk government is letting big mining companies, especially thermal coal companies, get away with packing up and leaving workers, taxpayers and the environment in the lurch," Waters said.

Waters said she believed the state government should increase rehabilitation bonds to cover the costs of a clean-up to secure thousands of rehabilitation jobs within the industry.

"Thermal coal is in structural decline, so coal companies are under unprecedented financial stress, with many at risk of bankruptcy,” Waters said.

“Coal miners Peabody Energy, who own six coal mines in Queensland, have lost 96% of their share price value in just five years."

In April 2014, an audit by the Queensland Audit Office found the financial assurance held through the rehabilitation bonds was often insufficient to cover the estimated cost of mine rehabilitation, and was rarely enforced.

The report concluded that successful environmental rehabilitation was not happening and the state remained vulnerable to “unnecessary and unacceptable” financial risks.