Remember these promises? The government doesn’t seem to

As the clock counts down to the State election the pressure is on the Palaszczuk Government to tick these big ticket items off their list of pledges before voters return to the ballot box.

A $2 billion entertainment precinct, sweeping rental reforms and a $25m pledge to boost tourism on Great Keppel Island are among major election promises at risk of being broken or left incomplete by the Palaszczuk Government before the October 31 state election.

About one in 10 of the Labor Government’s 2017 election commitments are yet to be implemented as the clock counts down to tick off a list of remaining promises before voters return to the ballot box.

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A commitment for the Brisbane Live entertainment precinct to be “planned and delivered” under the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority and in partnership with AEG Ogden remains incomplete.

So too does Labor’s pledge to tip $25m into Great Keppel Island under a recovery package to deliver major tourism improvements – such as power and water connections, sewerage treatment and a public jetty.

Great Keppel Island.

Rental reforms are also not expected to be finalised before the end of the term, with the government previously committing to law changes if required.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has confirmed the State Government has delivered about 85 per cent of its election commitments, with less than 80 days until election day.

A June progress report on 2017 election commitments showed more than 60 pledges remained “in progress”.

A Government spokesman insisted the vast majority of promises had been delivered and the term still had months to go.

“Several commitments have been delivered since the election commitments document was prepared,” he said.

“Some commitments were always expected to be completed outside of this term.

“Funding allocated over a five-year period cannot be fully delivered in a three-year term.”

The spokesman said consultation for Brisbane Live was on track and had recently been completed for government consideration.

Artist’s impression of the proposed Brisbane Live precinct.

“Discussions with AEG Ogden have continued throughout this market sounding process and the Government remains committed to working with AEG Ogden in relation to delivering this project in line with our precinct planning for Cross River Rail,” he said.

The Government is also maintaining that it has fulfilled a 2015 election pledge to implement a “Debt action plan” to pay down $12bn in general government debt over 10 years – pointing to several debt-reduction measures that had been implemented.

It comes as the Government anticipates the state’s general government sector gross debt will increase from $43.8b in 2019-20 to $59.4b in 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The spokesman insisted the Government remained committed to delivering the $25m commitment for Great Keppel Island, with scoping work revealing that it would actually cost more than $60m to connect mainland power and water to the island.

“The State Government’s $25m remains on the table and we’ve been calling on the Federal Government to commit funding so we can deliver power and water to Great Keppel Island,” he said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Annette Dew

The spokesman also said more work would continue on rental reforms, but the Government was prioritising the immediate impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Queensland Government has consulted extensively on amendments to the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 since 2018, receiving 137,000 responses,” he said.

A number of commitments are on track to be finished in the next term, as promised, including plans to spend more than $1b over four years to employ 3700 more teachers, with more than 2860 hired since the last election.

The Government has already met its commitment to recruit another 3000 nurses and has fast-tracked its promise to hire 100 extra firefighters by 2021, with all to be appointed by September.

Mr Miles said the Palaszczuk Government’s fulfilled election commitments included continuing to rebuild frontline services, such as health.

“That has been very important during this global pandemic,” he said.

“Because we’ve been able to manage the health response, we’ve already started delivering Queensland’s plan for economic recovery.”

Originally published as Remember these promises? The government doesn’t seem to