Does Queensland really need coal?

Some governments claim we need fossil fuels if we "want decent hospitals, schools and police", implying that we couldn't have these things without fossil fuels. But is that really the case?

New Matilda looked at Queensland's budget papers, released this week. Turns out that Queensland receives 1.68 billion dollars a year in coal royalties. That sounds big, but it's just 3% of Queensland total income of 51.19 billion.

So even if we stopped digging up coal tomorrow, 97% of our income would still be there. To me that doesn't sound like we're dependent on coal.

In my opinion, the only ones dependent on coal companies are the politicians who receive campaign donations from them.