State Budget 2018: Jackie Trad announces $250m school funding

ANNOUNCING money for more high school classrooms, Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad has admitted she is “a little bit” nervous ahead of her first State Budget tomorrow.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad admits to some nerves ahead of her first State Budget. Picture: Claudia Baxter/AAP

QUEENSLAND Treasurer Jackie Trad has admitted she is “a little bit” nervous but mostly excited to hand down her first State Budget tomorrow.

Ms Trad this afternoon held a Budget-eve press conference at Ferny Grove State High School to announce a $250 million spend on new high school classrooms over two years to accommodate an additional 17,000 new students expected by 2020.

It is the latest in a line of big spending announcements made by Ms Trad in the lead up to tomorrow’s Budget.

She insisted the Budget would not contain any new revenue measures over and above the five new taxes — including the waste levy — that have already been announced.

“The will be no surprises in terms of charges, fees or additional revenue measures,” she said.

Resource companies can also breathe easy, with Ms Trad ruling out a greater royalties take.

The QRC estimates a record royalties haul of almost $4 billion in 2018/19 — about $500 million more than estimated in the mid-year fiscal and economic review and $1 billion more than predicted in last year’s Budget.

Ms Trad also ruled out any creative accounting to cover debt following moves last term to transfer more debt to the GOCs and take money from — and suspend payments to — the defined benefits super fund.

“It will be an absolute straight bat,” she said.

But she continued to defend the forecast increase in debt by 21/22 of $83 billion, insisting that it was necessary to meet infrastructure demand.