A carbon price in Australia was probably inevitable, Queensland Resources Council chief Ian Macfarlane said in Brisbane as he addressed a business luncheon.
Mr Macfarlane, who served as resources minister in the Abbott-led Coalition government, said there was a view that carbon pricing was inevitable.
![Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane says a carbon price is probably inevitable.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170714235710im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/5/3/t/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx55nc.png/1499246788246.jpg)
"Privately I think that's probably the case, that's something that's supported by a lot of industry in Australia," he told the Queensland Media Club lunch on Wednesday.
"Obviously there would need to be a transition to a carbon price, we have a clean energy target that runs for a period of time, then you understand that on the back of that there may be a carbon price."
Carbon pricing or a carbon tax has long been a controversial topic in federal politics.
A carbon pricing scheme was introduced by the Gillard government in 2011, but it was scrapped in 2014 when Tony Abbott claimed the prime ministership from Kevin Rudd.
In late 2016, federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said he would look at an emissions intensity scheme, but then soon afterwards bowed to backbench pressure and said there were no plans for a carbon pricing scheme.
The Finkel review, released last month, recommended a clean energy target.
Mr Macfarlane said he believed the percentage of energy that came from renewables should be about 35 or 36 per cent on a "business as usual" forecast.
"It may be higher or lower depending on energy demand but what is the ideal number? More is better, providing its reliable and dispatchable," he said.
Mr Macfarlane, who said his own roof was covered in solar panels, said the model needed to allow Queensland to be internationally competitive and reliable.
He said people should not have to wait until the "sun comes out or the wind starts to blow".
The Queensland government has set a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.
In September 2016, Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said he supported the federal LNP's renewable target of 23.5 per cent.
Mr Macfarlane said he promoted a clean energy target to former prime minister John Howard in 2006.
"We just couldn't quite get lift-off but I think that's where Australia is going to have to go, there is going to have to be a transition," he said.
When asked if he thought the Liberal Party was in good shape today, Mr Macfarlane said he did want to publicly comment on the party after leaving politics.
"I think all Australians are hankering for a government that just gets on and governs and I have to say that I'm yet to see a bit of that in Australia, right across the board, not just federally," he said.
Mr Macfarlane said Australia needed two or three new very high-tech low-emission coal-fired power stations, and southern Queensland would be an appropriate site for a large station.
"Or face electricity prices that will shut down manufacturing and jobs in eastern Australia," he said.
Mr Macfarlane said resources royalty income in Canada was discounted by 50 per cent before added to GST equalisation calculations.
"We should in Australia consider a similar system," he said.
"That would add almost $100 million to Queensland's coffers.
"States like Queensland and Western Australia that make the tough decisions, develop our resources, create jobs and grow exports shouldn't be penalised in the GST distribution for doing just that.
"States that sit on their resources without the political courage to develop them should be penalised."
Mr Macfarlane said the council supported renewables but Queensland needed to get the mix right.
"Without the resource industry, without the coal industry, and all the industries that surround it, renewable energy industry would simply not survive," he said.
"We wouldn't even have the resources to generate the renewable energy.
"It bewilders me that we should think that we have a situation where we can go from fossil fuels to renewables in less than a decade."
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