Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad calls on Morrison Government to kick-start infrastructure spending

Under the Palaszczuk Government, Queensland’s economy has grown for 14 consecutive quarters. But that prosperity won’t last under a Morrison Government that needs to fast-track infrastructure spending, writes Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad.

WITH less than two months until Christmas, retail businesses across Queensland are looking forward hopefully to what should be one of their busiest times of the year.

We know how important confidence is to consumers’ willingness to spend up, supporting tens of thousands of businesses and jobs as they do.

While Queensland’s size and decentralised regions mean we can be subject to a far more varied set of economic conditions than other states, confidence here remains strong.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the Queensland economy grew faster than the national average in the June quarter.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad says now is the time to kick-start infrastructure spending. Picture: Peter Wallis

Under the Palaszczuk Government, Queensland’s economy has grown for 14 consecutive quarters.

Our household consumption growth is the strongest in the nation, while growth in Queensland’s retail trade is twice as fast as the national rate. The confidence shown by consumers is also seen in business investment decisions, with equipment investment up 4.6 per cent in 2018-19, well above the national average of 3.0 per cent.

It’s against these current measures that one must consider the CommSec State of the State report.

CommSec uses an unusual set of measurements. Rather than simply comparing Queensland against other states now and into the future, CommSec uses a rolling 10-year average — it measures us against what was happening in Queensland a decade ago, when very different economic conditions existed toward the end of the LNG industry construction boom.

The LNG construction phase was Australia’s largest-ever infrastructure project, bigger even than the original Snowy Hydro.

It was the initiative of a Queensland Labor Government, and it is why today the Palaszczuk Government is looking to leverage Queensland’s strength in renewable energy to ensure we are part of a growing global hydrogen industry, and to open up the North West Minerals Province to provide the rare-earth minerals the world needs for a new generation of batteries and energy storage.

But tying Queensland’s performance today to what happened here 10 years ago is like saying your child’s Year 9 NAPLAN results will be handicapped against how they performed in Year 3.

Or making the result of this year’s grand final hinge on how the competing teams performed against one another back in 2009.

By contrast, the Deloitte Business Outlook forecasts that Queensland will have the equal-second strongest national growth this year.

While the confidence of consumers and businesses is vital to our continued economic prosperity, government has a role to play as well.

General government investment in Queensland increased by more than 11 per cent over 2018-19, but over the same period, investment in Queensland by the federal Coalition went backwards.

Of the investment promised in the Federal Budget earlier this year, the vast majority promised to Queensland is outside the four-year budget period and after the next election.

What matters to Queensland businesses and consumers is today, tomorrow, and the next few years.

They understand, as the Reserve Bank does, that the time to be kick-starting infrastructure spending is right now.

The Morrison Government should bring forward its promised infrastructure investment right now.

Every day that passes without the Federal Government acting to boost our economy and help vulnerable Australians, hurts the prosperity of Queenslanders and all Australians.

• Jackie Trad is Treasurer of Queensland

Originally published as Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad calls on Morrison Government to kick-start infrastructure spending