The annual meeting of one of Australia's biggest mining firms has been interrupted by protesters blaming the company for knowingly contributing to the climate crisis.
Whitehaven Coal executives evicted activists from its Sydney meeting within minutes on Thursday before sharing positive forecasts for metallurgical coal prices with shareholders.
The company, which acquired two Queensland coal mines from BHP last year, also revealed it was optimistic the Queensland government would change mining royalty rates that it considered "punitive".
The AGM comes after Whitehaven announced $5.8 billion in revenue for the 2025 financial year and the production of 39.1 megatonnes of coal, including 20Mt from its Queensland operations.
Protesters interrupted a presentation by Whitehaven chair Mark Vaile less than 10 minutes into the company's annual general meeting, with one man rising to call the firm "evil".
"The climate crisis is destroying my generation's future... and they know it as well," he yelled.
The group was escorted from the meeting by security before Mr Vaile announced they had entered the venue under "false pretences" using proxy votes.
"Let us get on with the orderly meeting of a legitimate Australian company that pays an enormous amount of tax that a lot of these people probably live off," he said.
Despite falling prices for coal in recent months and a "complex and dynamic" market, Mr Vaile said global policies were becoming clearer and the company expected the price of metallurgical coal to rise over the long term.
"Policy implementation in China and greater clarity around US trade policies are supporting a recovery in coal prices and improved sentiment," he said.
"We continue to expect long-term supply and demand dynamics to support stronger prices."
The price of thermal coal had also "recovered somewhat" since June, Whitehaven chief executive Paul Flynn said, and the company expected the cost of coal to sit between $130 and $145 per tonne over the coming year.
Queensland's mining royalties scheme, introduced in 2022, had impacted the company, Mr Flynn said, and could affect future investment decisions if the state government did not change it.
"It's quite a punitive regime up there and of course inflation has lifted the cost basis of the industry in Queensland as well as NSW," he said.
"From our perspective, there is a good opportunity for change given that this government obviously has inherited that position is looking to stimulate further investment in the coal mining sector."
The company also announced it had received an environmental complaint about dust at its Maules Creek mine in NSW after reporting its 2025 results, and Mr Flynn said he would consider whether to appeal a fine.
Whitehaven is also facing court proceedings from three environmental complaints lodged in the 2021 and 2022 financial years.
