NSW raises coal royalties, adding $2.7b to future budget

New South Wales has increased its coal royalty scheme for the first time since 2009 in a move that is expected to boost the state’s budget by more than $2.7 billion (USD 1.72b) from 2024 to 2028.

September 7, 2023 Bella Peacock

NSW voted in Chris Minns' Labor government in March 2023.

Image: Chris Minns

The New South Wales government will increase coal royalties 2.6% from 1 July 2024, echoing a recent move by the Queensland government.

The new coal royalties scheme is expected to generate a total of $2.7 billion for NSW over four years from 2024.

While the usual suspects, including the National Party, railed against the move, it has been welcomed by many in the clean energy industries, including think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF).

Its Director, Tim Buckley, said: “CEF prefers the Queensland government’s progressive royalty approach, which only applies in full less than once a decade or or even more infrequently, at times of coal export sector superprofits, but an increased share in NSW to guarantee a fairer return to public coffers is definitely a good start.”

““The previous flat 6-8% coal export royalty rate in NSW was long overdue for review and uplift. The NSW decision today is an example of our government finally standing up to the self-serving coal lobby and acting in the public interest to ensure an appropriate return to the people of the state from the use of its finite sovereign public assets, appropriately applying the proceeds to alleviate the energy poverty the fossil fuel industry has inflicted on consumers as it rakes in superprofits,” Buckley added.

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