Coal companies to reap billions more in taxpayer diesel subsidies as Labor approves new mining

Treasury has forecast the diesel subsidy will cost $47bn over the next four years. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Treasury has forecast the diesel subsidy will cost $47bn over the next four years. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian Coal companies to reap billions more in taxpayer diesel subsidies as Labor approves new mining Albanese government under pressure to wind back fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners as analysis shows cost to budget Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coal companies could receive an extra $6.2bn in taxpayer refunds for the diesel they use if the Albanese government greenlights just half the mine developments up for approval. The finding, in an analysis released by activist group Lock the Gate, comes as the government faces an internal campaign before next month’s Labor party national conference to commit to winding back a fuel tax credit scheme for multinational miners. More than 300 Labor branches have joined unions, climate campaigners and mining billionaire Andrew Forrest in calling on the government to cap the scheme, which refunds miners, farmers and other industries the 52.6c a litre excise applied to petrol and diesel. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Treasury last month forecast the scheme would cost the budget $47bn over the next four years , rising from $10.7bn in 2026-27 to $12.8bn in 2029-2030. More than $1bn a year goes to coalmine operators. Energy & Resource Insights, a consultancy created by the Sunrise Project, a climate advocacy organisation, said another 45 coal mining developments were proposed in New South Wales and Queensland. Of these, 22 had environmental impact statements that outlined expected diesel consumption. Based on that data, the consultancy estimated coal companies could receive $6.2bn in rebates on 11.6bn litres of diesel used over their operational lives. It found one expansion alone – Glencore and Yancoal’s Hunter Valley operations expansion, the largest coal project ever proposed in New South Wales – could reap $1.7bn. Australia’s most costly anti-climate policy hits taxpayers for $30m a day as calls mount to wind back fuel tax credits | Adam Morton Read more Lock the Gate’s acting national coordinator, Georgina Woods, said the fuel tax credits scheme was rewarding coal companies with billions of dollars for using diesel, reducing the incentive to shift to clean vehicles to cut emissions. She said it meant companies were “effectively claiming a public subsidy to expand coal mining” and the money would be “much better spent on easing the costs of climate change”. “Households are struggling with rising energy bills and insurance costs, and that will worsen as the climate crisis escalates,” Woods said. “Pollution from mining and burning coal is fuelling rising disaster costs across each state and territory and the annual damage bills from increased flood, bushfire, storm, cyclone and hailstorms could