Qld Budget 2024: All the winners and losers from Cameron Dick’s latest budget
From households, health workers, students, small business owners to public servants, here are the winners and losers as Treasurer Cameron Dick hands down the latest budget.
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It’s no secret Treasurer Cameron Dick developed this years’ budget around cost-of-living relief for Queensland households, with a $3.7 billion spend ahead of the October state election.
While the majority of the government’s big spending surprises were revealed prior to the official budget hand down on Tuesday, the Treasurer managed to make some minor announcements.
These are the winners and losers of the 2024-25 budget.
Winners:
Households
The largest cost of living relief measure announced prior to the budget delivery will see every Queensland household receive a $1300 energy rebate, courtesy of the state and federal governments.
The energy rebate will kick in after June 30 and could mean some households won’t pay an electricity bill until March 2025.
The government has calculated average electricity bills will fall from $1,766 to $766 while the rebate is active.
Vulnerable residents will receive a slightly higher $1672 rebate.
Motorists
Queenslanders will get 20 per cent off vehicle registration for 12 months, for cars, trailers, motorcycles and motorhomes.
It will not include registrations under the national heavy vehicle regulator.
The 20 per cent discount will cost the government $435 million and will be applicable to all renewal notices issued from August 5 onwards.
Discounts will see registration discounts of about $85 for a four-cylinder car, $69 for an electric vehicle and $120 for a six-cylinder car.
It is expected to benefit owners of 5.7million vehicles.
Parents of sporty kids
Families will be eligible for fair play vouchers valued at $200 - a rise of $50 per voucher.
Fairplay vouchers will be made available from July 1, but will remain limited to one voucher per child aged bateen 5-17 per year.
Vouchers can be redeemed when paying for memberships and registration fees for spots and recreation groups.
Commuters
Another old announcement with a significant government spend of $150m that will make fares for all public transport across the state just 50c.
Tickets for the Airtrain service will also be halved, down to $11 per trip.
TAFE students
Nursing students studying a Diploma of Nursing will get $25,000 off their course fees, with the government to spend $59m on 3000 nurse training placements in 2025.
The government will provide 30,000 free TAFE placements between 2024-26.
A further 4000 tradie first-year apprentices will also receive $1000 cash back for tools purchased for their trade.
First home buyers
First homeowners can now receive a $30,000 grant and will not have to pay a stamp duty fee on home purchases up to $700,000.
While the Treasurer has conceded the median home price for Brisbane properties exceeds this threshold, he says Queenslanders in regional areas could see a maximum saving of $17,350.
First home concessions will also be extended from $550,000 up to $800,000, with transfer duty concessions for vacant land purchased also extended to $500,000.
Food relief services
Food relief will be provided to vulnerable students as part of a special $15m package to subsidise breakfast, lunches and tuckshop snacks.
The government will also double its four-year funding commitment to Foodbank ($2.9m), with OzHarvest and SecondBite food relief charities also receiving $3.3m.
Health staff
The government has vamped up its health budget this year, with health operational services to get a $4.3bn budget.
Nearly $266m will be spent on recruiting more paramedics and $158m on addressing workforce challenges within Queensland Health.
Losers:
Small business
Small business owners, particularly those in the regions, will not receive debt funding support from the government despite the industry reporting record-high financial stress.
While small businesses will get $650 off their electricity bills, it will likely only partially cover one bill and is a drop in the ocean compared to the financial relief households will receive over multiple quarters.
The Queensland Social Enterprise Council will receive $1.9m, with the government adding just $7.8m to its Small Business Strategy for 2024-27.
It’s a major blow for hundreds of struggling small businesses which are the backbone of many regional communities and on the brink of financial collapse.
Foreign land/homeowners
Foreign property investors will be slugged with a higher land tax surcharge which will rise from 2 to 3 per cent.
Public servants
Public servants will bear the brunt of the government’s new $3bn savings plans which is focused on reducing consultancies and bringing down office space costs over the next three years.
While the Treasurer says the plan will not have any impact on jobs, he confirmed the government spent about $500m a year on leasing offices and another $3bn on contractors and consultants of employment agencies which is where the majority of government savings will likely come from.
It means while public servants will keep their jobs, their workloads could increase pending on where the “responsible” cuts are made.
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