A price on carbon would hit regional communities across Queensland who would feel the impact of the estimated Australia wide loss of employment in existing coal mines, the Australian Coal Association (ACA) said on Thursday.

ACA Executive Director Ralph Hillman said Queensland would feel the impact of the estimated Australia wide loss of employment in existing coal mines of around 4,700.

“The jobs impact widens to 14,100 when coal reliant businesses are included.

“Mines operating in Queensland employ over 19,700 people directly and support over 69,000 jobs indirectly.

“Coal mining is a vital part of the Queensland economy and the carbon tax will have a big impact on regional areas.

“Queensland produces around 180 million tonnes of raw coal per year, predominantly coking coal for export and domestic use, with smaller amounts of thermal coal.

The ACA commissioned ACIL Tasman to model the effects of the carbon tax on coal mines and they estimated that 4700 direct jobs were at risk across Australia with 1,000 direct jobs at risk in Queensland alone.

“These job losses would be exacerbated by the flow on effects to small businesses who would be hit hard by the loss of valuable business with coal mines.

“ACIL Tasman projects the overall loss of jobs, when the flow on effects are included, to be about 14,100,” Mr Hillman said.

The ACA will today launch television advertising in coal communities across regional Queensland to inform the local community of the economic impact of the carbon tax on coal mining. It intends to highlight the impact of the carbon tax by featuring coal community members speaking about the coal industry and the effect it will have on their community.

“The carbon tax is just a proposal at this stage and before it becomes law we believe there is still a chance to get the government to reconsider some of the more detrimental elements of the tax,” Mr Hillman said.