Editorial: Las Vegas to Bris Vegas, bed tax a pretty good idea

If Queensland is to have any chance of reducing state debt and delivering necessary services, it must look at different ways of raising revenue, writes the editor.

The idea of a bed tax for Brisbane has been floated.

A Vegas-style “bed tax” to help fund the necessary infrastructure for hosting the biggest event in the world in 2032 seems like a pretty good idea.

Are any tourists ever really going to change their mind about their holiday destination because of a $10 tax on their hotel room bill, when these days one night often sets you back $500 or more anyway? We would suggest that is unlikely.

And when you consider that if it is imposed across Queensland, such a tax could raise $1bn a year – well, it sounds like something that perhaps should be seriously considered.

There is no doubt that creative ways are going to have to be looked at to fund the infrastructure our growing state needs in coming years. Queensland’s public finances are in a mess – thanks both to the pandemic and the fact that for the past decade the side of politics that believes in big government has held power and also the purse-strings.

If the Crisafulli LNP government is to have any chance of reducing state debt and delivering necessary services, then they are going to have to look at different ways of raising revenue – because the demand for health and education and transport will only continue to increase as our population grows.

Construction costs are certainly not going to fall any time soon.

The government has made much of their decision to ban the so-called Best Practice Industry Conditions deal championed by the former government that granted union members ridiculously good conditions. But even when that policy does eventually expire on worksites across the state, the big impact will be better productivity rather than direct cost savings. It is not guaranteed, in other words, that killing the “CFMEU tax” will lead to the 30 per cent savings promised.

And so this government will have to get creative. A bed tax is just one idea – and could well be palatable politically, at least compared with other potential taxes on individuals.

Labor had a habit of tapping business to raise extra revenue. It is less likely the LNP will do that, particularly in the cash-cow sector of resources, which is still angry over the super-profits tax imposed on the state’s metallurgical coal miners without proper consultation by former treasurer Cameron Dick.

Turning back to the venues that will need to be constructed here to ensure we host a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane in 2032, and we hit another major conundrum for a government that is looking to save – not spend – public money.

There is already $7bn baked into the state and federal budgets for this task, but costs have soared since that deal was done two years ago – before all the dillydallying since. There is simply no way that will be enough money to build what will be required for the Games, and indeed for the future in the fastest-growing region in our fast-growing state.

Fortunately on this score, Labor is no longer in power – in that the general scepticism that you find in any progressive cabinet room to the role the private sector can play in helping government deliver things is hopefully no longer there.

We can assume both that the Crisafulli cabinet is open to private investment helping deliver some of the infrastructure that will be necessary in coming years, and that the independent review of Games venues that is currently under way is investigating how that can work.

Such a scenario is likely to now be necessary in a budgetary sense. The good news for the new government is it might also help them politically.

GAME ON FOR NRL SEASON

Across Queensland yesterday, thousands of people took time off work to watch a spectacular, colourful and at times baffling American event, the Super Bowl.

Aussies love their sport and it seems we have now embraced American football, especially as the showpiece game falls neatly between the end of our international cricket season and the start of footy season.

But as we also report today, the NRL season is only 19 days away. Yesterday’s season launch brought stars of all 17 NRL clubs together, as well as bringing them face-to-face with the NRL trophy.

And the Queensland teams have every right to dream big. For the Broncos, after a rollercoaster ride under Kevin Walters, season 2025 promises a harder edge under Michael Maguire, and perhaps a realisation that it is high time the team cashed in on their talent.

On the Gold Coast, Des Hasler will hope his Titans can build on their encouraging end to 2024, while at Redcliffe new Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf will use early predictions of a wooden spoon as motivation for his plucky team.

And then there are the Cowboys, who have had other things on their minds during Townsville’s flood emergency.

Todd Payten’s men can’t wait to prove that last year’s run to the semi finals was no fluke.

While none of our teams are going to Las Vegas this year, we still feel the same excitement.

Bring it on.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Las Vegas to Bris Vegas, bed tax a pretty good idea