NSW Increases Coal Royalty Rates to Raise $2.7 Billion Over 4 Years

NSW Minerals Council says higher rates would burden coal producers

Coal is unloaded onto large piles at the Ulan Coal mines near the central New South Wales rural town of Mudgee in Australia on March 8, 2018. David Gray/Reuters

New South Wales (NSW) will increase coal royalties in a bid to add $2.7 billion (US$1.7 billion) to its budget over four years from 2024 to 2028, a move that mining companies say would result in a heavier burden for the sector.

The 2.6 percent increase in coal royalties starting July 1, 2024, will replace the emergency domestic coal cap and reservation measures introduced in December 2022. The NSW government said that it will mitigate a $1.3 billion write-down in royalties revenue in the forthcoming budget and be used to rebuild essential services and provide families with cost-of-living relief in the state.