Queensland's Natural Resources Minister has accused mining companies of not contributing enough to the local communities in which they operate as he put the blame partly on a multimillion-dollar infrastructure program he oversaw.
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Speaking at a Local Government Association of Queensland forum, Natural Resources and State Development Minister Anthony Lynham said mines had a "social licence" to contribute more to their communities.
That licence, Dr Lynham said, was increasingly being ignored.
Dr Lynham was responding to a question from Western Downs councillor and former mayor Ray Brown, who lamented that a lack of "legacy" projects were being undertaken by coal seam gas companies in his region.
That led to a lament from Dr Lynham that resource companies had let some regions down.
"Mining towns used to be so proud of the mine they were with," he said.
"They used to look after the pool, look after the road, look after the school. Now, it's gone.
"I fear that sometimes initiatives like Royalties for the Regions and Building Our Regions have abrogated companies of their responsibility, because they're saying 'Well, you're getting this money, this comes from our resource dollars, we don't need to do this.'
"So when I meet with mining companies, that's the first thing I say. I say you've got to look after your own community. You've got to have a social licence."
Building Our Regions is a $375 million state government infrastructure program for local council projects, administered from Dr Lynham's own Department of State Development.
It replaced the Newman government's $495 million Royalties for the Regions competitive grants program.
Dr Lynham said that, while the government was happy to invest in communities, resource companies needed to do more of the heavy lifting.
"The gas companies will come and say, 'Oh, minister, such-and-such is complaining, do something about it,' " he said.
"Well, goddamn, you do something about it – it's your gas. You look after your communities.
"That's why you're there, take some responsibility."
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said governments, not mining companies, had let Queenslanders down.
"Over the years, the major abrogation of responsibility to local communities has been the sharp reductions in base funding from successive Commonwealth and Queensland governments for local government," he said.
"Already mining companies are facing soaring local government rate hikes, which is not just a threat to current mines but the state's competitiveness to attract future investment into the industry."
Mr Roche said a recent QRC report found communities did not want mining companies to "buy their support", but rather engage through programs and volunteering.
"Today, we see resource companies teaching kids to read and assisting with pathology," he said.
"These types of programs have a profound change in remote communities and exemplify the positive legacy that resource companies can leave."
Mr Roche said resources companies contributed to 937 community groups in 43 local government areas in 2014-15, "which in turn helped them to provide vital services to Queenslanders".
"Since 2009-10, the industry has invested more than $600 million into Queensland communities," he said.
"The annual average over that period was in excess of $100 million.
"Unemployment in regional Queensland is the number one issue in a lot communities and while it has been a difficult year for the mining industry, it's still a significant contributor to regional employment."
