The mining industry has probably never experienced what is happening now. Hostilities between it and the Government are in the open and brutal.

There is no hiding the fact that it has never been this bad and it’s particularly painful for the industry because it is losing.

This week Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk fronted up at the World Mining Congress and told the 3000-odd delegates that her Government “backed the resources sector”.

Well, that depends on what your resource is. If it’s coal the Government backed it right off a cliff through a huge hike in royalties, which led to some fairly frank character assessments of the Government from BHP chief executive Mike Henry at the very same conference and only minutes after Palaszczuk had made her plea for the world to come to Queensland.

At the moment the fighting is confined to coal, a commodity that is both reviled and used as a cash cow by the Government.

While it is hand-to-hand combat in coal, the other sectors are clearly looking on and probably debating whether they wanted that future for themselves. BHP’s message to them at the mining congress was to be careful and watch your wallet when dealing with the State Government.

However, there is a chance for a re-set. The seven-year term of Ian “Chainsaw” Macfarlane as head of the Queensland Resources Council has come to an end and the industry has to see this as an opportunity to not only sue for peace, but to find a leader who can bring the parties together and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

That’s not to blame Macfarlane, but he’s not the shy, retiring type and his history as a former Liberal Minister in the Federal Government may not have endeared him to Labor politicians.

All this criticism over coal is water off a duck’s back for Palaszczuk. While the industry continues its campaign against the coal royalty hike, the Government remains carefree, mostly because there is no political opposition to its position.

That’s because the LNP have the same fear as Labor that the Green wave that washed through Brisbane at the last federal election will sweep away more seats in next year’s state election if coal is an issue.

The public would also be reluctant to back coal giants after the royalty hike led to them getting $500 off their skyrocketing power bills.

Also, BHP is a seller of coal mines at the moment which tends to mute its message a bit.

In her speech to this week’s congress, Palaszczuk mentioned coal only in passing and in a historical reference.

Everything is now about critical minerals, which is fine, but it doesn’t pay the bills.