ABC quoted the Northern Territory Minerals Council said that Queensland's mining industry will lose thousands of jobs if the Federal Government goes ahead with its emissions trading scheme.
The council has released a study that shows the plan will cost more than 15,000 Queensland jobs by 2030. That includes about 2,800 jobs from both the resources sector and related industries in the state's north-west.
Mr Brendan Pearson from the Minerals Council said that the carbon tax should be phased in gradually to reduce the economic impact. Mr Pearson "Just like the Europeans are, just like Mr Barack Obama's Democratic party is and that is to phase in this the carbon penalty or the carbon tax."
He said that "Don't start it at 100%, start it at 10%.You can still raise some revenue to compensate low income earners but you will not drive jobs out of our mining regions."
Mr John Rolfe from Central Queensland University said that some companies will find smarter ways of producing as the scheme is introduced. He said that "Over time we will see more efficiencies come in but I think that the overall impact will be close to that level of magnitude, if our trading partners aren't faced with the same restrictions over carbon emissions."
