Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick might be blessed with a $10 billion surge in revenue this financial year – courtesy of an explosion in coal royalties and property taxes – but that didn’t stop him from slugging one of the sectors that delivered him the windfall in Tuesday’s budget.

Like most politicians, tricky Dick deals revel in semantics. The Palaszczuk government went to voters before the 2020 election promising there would be no tax increases this term.