At the World Mining Congress in Brisbane Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a critical minerals policy and talked up the state’s potential for mineral development and said her Government backed the resources sector.

Her speech was aimed at showing the world’s mining industry the opportunities and support the Government was prepared to make for critical minerals that would be used in technology and renewable energy generation and storage.

Yet, just minutes after her speech on Queenslan’s attractiveness for investors, BHP chief executive Mike Henry told the conference there were better places for it to invest since the Government hiked coal royalties without any negotiation with the industry, which led to higher risk and lower returns for the mining giant.

He said South Australia, Western Australia, and even Chile provided a better environment for the company’s capital.

He said the royalties increase was done without industry engagement, “no effort to understand and no interest in understanding”.

“In this case, both the outcome and the process have meant for BHP that we have opportunities to invest for better returns and lower risk elsewhere around the world,  as well as here in Australian states like WA and SA,” he said.

“And we will not be investing any further growth dollars in Queensland under the current conditions.”

His comments highlight that not only was the hike in royalties an issue for the company, but also the Government’s attitude.

The comments came as Palaszczuk readies for an Asian trade mission visiting key investors in South Korea and Japan.

However, it was the Japanese Government, through its ambassador, that criticised the Palaszczuk Government publicly over the royalties issue.

Palaszczuk fobbed off BHP’s criticism by claiming that investment in the state had increased recently and that there were other investors willing to spend in Queensland. While that is true, BHP’s comments will be seen as an embarrassment for the Government at such a criticial point.

Mauro Neves, who heads BHP coal joint venture in Queensland, BMA, said the royalties policy could be one the state regrets in the long term.

Henry lauded the federal Government for some policy decisions, but was also highly critical of its “same job, same pay” legislation.

The Premier also announced a critical minerals policy that would mean new development zones, a new dedicated office in Townsville and free exploration tenure for five years.

She said the policy positioned the state as a world leader.

The Government would spend $245 million into growing the critical minerals sector.