Editorial: Queensland Labor to spend up big in Treasurer Jackie Trad’s first Budget

EDITORIAL: On Tuesday, Treasurer Jackie Trad will bring down her first Budget, and it will be a monster. Expect big spending on health, education and infrastructure, but not so much paying off debt.

Treasurer Jackie Trad’s no-nonsense approach to fixing problems is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to charting the state’s fiscal path. Picture: AAP/Claudia Baxter

ON TUESDAY, Treasurer Jackie Trad brings down her first Budget. It will be a monster.

Expect big spending on health, education and infrastructure – staple portfolios for Labor governments. But it will also test the Government’s mettle on its medium- to long-range economic forecasting.

Smokers, boozers and big eaters are burdening the health system.

There is a strong belief that this Budget will assume serious growth and mining royalties. In many ways, the Palaszczuk Government is banking on the good times rolling. A Chinese fiscal meltdown or a seismic shock to world markets – particularly in the US – will throw all of those assumptions out the door.

Today we reveal the Government’s health spending – the highest ever. It comes as Health Minister Steven Miles warns that too many Queenslanders are drinking, smoking and eating too much, and that means government has to spend more to fix them.

With the flu season in full swing, the Government is investing $10 million to deliver the Winter Beds Strategy to help doctors and nurses cope with extra demand over the winter months.

In addition to the multibillion-dollar health budget, the Government will add a further $985.5 million towards new and improved health infrastructure.

The Budget will include: $154 million to extend the Specialist Outpatient Strategy; $106.4 million over four years for community mental health services; 3500 nurses and midwives over four years to 2020; and an extra 100 ambulance officers in 2018-19.

There will be a new $14.3 million 42-bed drug rehabilitation facility in Rockhampton; $281.2 million for the Logan Hospital redevelopment; $12.6 million for the Logan Hospital Maternity Services Ward redevelopment; and $252.7 million for the Caboolture Hospital redevelopment.

The keys to Queensland’s economic fortune come with great responsibility. If done properly, this is the Budget that can set the state up for a Renaissance period.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited Townsville Hospital to officially open the Children's Ward. Minister for Health Steven Miles. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Queensland has stagnated over the past decade as an economic powerhouse. We have lagged behind other states in key financial benchmarking areas, such as employment, infrastructure, and small business growth.

Retail confidence, particularly in regional and rural areas, has suffered. As the corpulent public service binged its way to record numbers, investment in the private sector has trailed southern states.

Thank goodness that tourism punches well above its weight, attracting record numbers of international visitors, particularly the Chinese.

The appointment of Ms Trad to head up the state’s finances is a good one. Her no-nonsense style and approach to fixing problems is just what the doctor ordered. And she is prepared to listen.

Since The Sunday Mail revealed last week that the Queensland racing industry was on its knees because of mismanagement by successive racing ministers, Ms Trad has intervened.

She is also investigating the Point of Consumption tax to be levied on corporate bookies. She is not convinced 15 per cent is the right figure, with Victoria committing to 8 per cent and NSW likely to come in around that mark.

The challenge for the Palaszczuk Government is to look after the regions. There is a perception – rightly or wrongly – that the bush and bigger regional cities such as Townsville, Cairns, Toowoomba, Mackay and Rockhampton get short-changed when it comes to state funding.

The Cross River Rail is vital if Brisbane wants to be a true world city.

They say funding from Noosa to Coolangatta outweighs that of other parts of Queensland.

The much-vaunted $5 billion Cross River Rail project in Brisbane is constantly touted as an unnecessary luxury. This, of course, is rubbish.

If Brisbane wants to become a true world city, it must address its public transport challenges. If Brisbane wants to be known as one of the world’s most liveable cities, it must properly plan for the demands of the next decade.

Let’s not forget that there are several massive projects on the books for Brisbane over the next 10 years. Queen’s Wharf, Brisbane Live, a new cruise ship terminal and a second airport runway will have a lasting impact on the way the city evolves.

To not build the necessary transport infrastructure to cope with the extra demand would be shortsighted and plain dumb.

The Cross River Rail is the final piece of the jigsaw. Fixing the M1 and the Bruce Highway between Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine coasts is also vital.

But the elephant in the room is paying off the ballooning debt.

Under Labor, that won’t happen. Expect debt to be addressed only when an LNP government is returned to power. That’s the cycle of politics in this country. Labor puts debt on the backburner and the conservatives treat it much more seriously.

Do voters care? It seems not. But the reality is that at some point, Queensland’s credit rating with international monetary providers will come under pressure.

If that happens, the likelihood is that the interest rate we pay on our borrowings will go up and debt will continue to accelerate.

That is a concern because at some point, we will have to pay the piper.